On the Psalms

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    A Psalm For A Royal Coronoation

    Introduction ........................................................................ 2

    Story Steps ......................................................................... 4

    Weakness/Need .............................................................. 4

    Desire ........................................................................... 12

    Opponent ...................................................................... 13

    Plan .............................................................................. 15

    Battle ............................................................................ 16The Nations Protest? .................................................... 19

    Kings on earth rise up .................................................. 21

    Let us break their shackles ........................................... 24

    The one enthroned in heaven laughs ............................ 26

    Then speaks to them in anger....................................... 28

    I myself have installed my King .................................. 30

    I will proclaim the decree of the Lord ......................... 32

    Only ask it of me .......................................................... 34With an iron rod you shall shepherd them ................... 35

    And now, kings, give heed ........................................... 36Serve the Lord with fear .............................................. 37

    Works Cited ................................................................. 40

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    "#$%&'()$*

    Here are some guidelines that can be used to help you

    with using the Psalms while in the presence of the

    Eucharistic Lord.

    A. Alway begin your prayer with a prayer to the Holy

    Spirit. You can use a traditional prayer blessed by the Church

    or simply say with the deepest humility available at the time,

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    B. Choose any of the Psalms. Read a verse and repeat

    it while delighting that you are in the presence of God who is

    making his Word come alive to you here and now.

    Remember that the same eternal word that created all things

    from nothing is present to you and is present to receive your

    prayer and listen to your acts of worship.

    C. If you come across a word that suddenly has an

    interest to you (like a highlighter drawing your attention in

    your mind and heart), then stop and rest there to see what

    God is wanting to tell you.

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    D. Whenever you find consolation in your passage

    allow it to speak to you.

    E. If you do not find consolation in a passage, do not

    be hasty in moving on. Spend several minutes with it to see

    whether the Lord will reveal himself in the darkness of you

    feelings, like a star shining in a dark place. Often in these

    kinds of contrasts, the Spirit can work very effectively in

    teaching the soul and in making it more docile in its

    adherence to the Word.

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    +$&%, +$-./

    !"#$%"&&'("")

    According to John Truby (2007) in his

    groundbreaking book The Anatomy of Story : 22 Steps to

    Becoming a Master Storyteller, there are 7 steps that are

    essential to every good story. First, of all, we are not looking

    at the Psalms at anything but as Divine revelation. On the

    other hand, we are also looking at the story of peoples lives

    as they are lived out in the Psalms. We are looking at how

    people have been able to overcome lives difficulties thru the

    interaction of God in their lives.

    Given that background it will be good to see how the

    seven essential story elements can be found in the Psalms.

    The hero of the story is battling something in

    his life that is destroying him:

    From the very beginning of the story, your hero has

    one or more great weaknesses that are holding him back.

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    Something is missing within him that is so profound, it is

    ruining his life.1

    In Psalms One what is that weakness or weaknesses?

    These weaknesses may come in the form of psychological

    and moral needs as well as ignorance or a blind spot in the

    heros life, that keeps him or her seeing the real goal. In this

    first Psalms is unhappiness. The Psalmist was not happy

    following the way he had chosen and that is the one thing

    that keeps the Psalmist close to God. Unhappiness comes in

    many sizes, shapes and forms, but we are speaking of

    existential happiness at the core of our being. This kind of

    happiness can only be filled by God alone. We will go into

    more detail about this happiness later, but for now we just

    want to identify the weakness, so that we can appreciate the

    growth from weakness to strength, from begin void of

    something to be ing filled with something. This existential

    1Truby, John (2008-10-14). The Anatomy of Story:

    22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller (p. 38). Faber &

    Faber. Kindle Edition.

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    need fans out into both the psychological and the moral

    dimension of the psalmist.

    In average stories, the hero has only a psychological

    need. A psychological need involves overcoming a serious

    flaw that is hurting nobody but the hero. In better stories, the

    hero has a moral need in addition to a psychological need.

    The hero must overcome a moral flaw and learn how to act

    properly toward other people. A character with a moral need

    is always hurting others in some way (his moral weakness) at

    the beginning of the story.2

    !"#$%&'&()$*' ,--.

    What is the psychological weakness that is

    hurting only the Psalmist at the beginning of this story? It is

    the same plaguing and crippling weakness that is inherited by

    every person since Adam, original sin. Since the Psalmist is

    an advocate for every man, he is also one who can identify

    with every person in their need. St. Augustine, I his

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    commentary on the Psalms, calls this Man, Christ Jesus.3

    Though we know Jesus never had to carry original sin, since

    he was the natural Son of God, yet he vicariously carried our

    weaknesses without sin. Unlike Jesus who never strayed from

    the truth, the First Man, Adam and those who followed in his

    footsteps, which here the Psalmist also identifies with, know

    and have the knowledge of sin. This weakness, according to

    John Truby, as mentioned above, is what keeps wounding the

    hero and keeping him back from the goal. Just how bad is

    this weakness? It is so serious a fault to have barred all

    mankind from the Kingdom of God forever. No one was able

    to heal this fault. It was so deeply embedded in the moral and

    psychological makeup of mankind that mankind lamented

    this fault for centuries. St. Paul put it this way, For just as

    through the disobedience of one person the many were made

    sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be

    2Ibid., p. 39.

    3Chrysostom, Augustin, and Philip Schaff.A Select

    Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the

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    made righteous. (New American Bible, Rom. 5:19) Who

    was this one person? Adam! We need to put this into proper

    perspective, so that we can see how great a weakness the

    Psalmist inherited. First of all, not only did Adam receive

    natural and supernatural gifts at the beginning of Creation,

    but not for himself, since those gifts were to be transmitted to

    all mankind.4At the same time when Adam, thru

    disobedience, lost sanctifying grace and the preternatural

    gifts, he lost them for all mankind. It was only with the New

    Adam, in Christ Jesus himself, that mankind would be

    restored back to its fullness. This is the greatest

    psychological weakness a person can bare, since it not only

    ruins a persons natural life, but also makes it impossible to

    reach supernatural beatitude, which is the ultimate goal of all.

    When the Psalmist says Happy are those who do not

    follow the counsel of the wicked, he was speaking out of a

    Christian Church: [first Series]. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark,1980. Print,. pg. 9.4Ott, Ludwig.Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. St.

    Louis, Mo.: B. Herder Book Co., 1964. Print, 105.

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    long history of sin and weakness since Adam. All of the

    prophets and patriarchs had witnessed to it and given

    experiential proof in their own lives that sin was a consuming

    reality that destroyed all mankind and would continue to,

    save for the grace of God. Was the Psalmist someone who

    had completed the journey of a hero or who was still on the

    journey. I believe that he was someone who was still on the

    journey. Jesus said of them, Many longed to see what you

    see and did not see it, to hear what you hear but did not hear

    it. They had been given a glimpse of the freedom but had

    not yet attained it. They had seen the devastating fires of sin,

    the heartbreaks and destruction it caused, but had not arrived

    at the fullness of liberation from it. Despite the fact that he

    had not yet reached it, he had reached it more so than others

    who had not yet even begun to look at how sin had destroyed

    their lives. It was to these people he was directing his story.

    /&0*' ,--.

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    As John Truby says a hero with a moral

    weakness is always hurting others in his life. Youve seen

    these people before. When I was a teenager my Mother

    would say to me Dont go into bars, they are not a good

    place to go and you dont know what kind of people are

    going to be there. Stay out of them. As a teenager Id go

    anyway. Id go because I was curious. Later, I realized what

    my Mother was saying, and I stopped going to the bars,

    because I changed from within and began to think more

    clearly, but for a while I was hurting my Mother. In the same

    way perhaps there were people in the lives of the prophet

    who had warned him to do not follow the counsel of the

    wicked, or do not go the way of sinners, but still felt an

    attraction to hand out or around those scoffers and sinners.

    There were other people in the community whom he was

    hurting with his lifestyle, but he didnt see it. In the end grace

    began to transform him from within. He wasnt aware of how

    much hurt he had caused. It was the same with St. Paul who

    was persecuting the Christians, who was acting zealously

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    under the law, but when Jesus opened his eyes and knocked

    him off his horse and Annanias removed the scales from his

    eyes, he was able to see his own self-righteousness and grace

    helped him correct it.

    The essential thing to understand about the

    moral need is that it is hurting other people. This person has

    to do something to stop hurting other people. I believe that

    the Psalmist was no speaking self-righteously when he spoke

    these words. Just like David could truly speak the words of

    Ps. 51 Have mercy on me, O God, so this Psalms was a

    sincere confession of where the Psalmist had been. Perhaps

    we can fancy to paraphrase it. Believe me, do not follow the

    counsel of the wicked, it will not bring you happiness. Just

    as a person who is telling the story of their lives, they are

    listened to because these are events that touched the life of

    this person, so the Psalmist is recounting what ways he was

    saved from being unhappy. This can be made a little more

    clearer this way. St. Paul say, what do you have that you

    have not received? If you have received it how can you boast

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    of it that you have not received it.? In the same way when the

    Psalmist says, Happy are those. He is confessing that the

    happiness he speaks of is in contrast to what was truly his

    own, an unhappy, state of soul, which was being without

    God in his life.

    +"&,-"

    According to John Truby Desire is what your hero

    wants in the story, his particular goal.5 Desire is the

    objective goal of the hero, what the hero wants to obtain by

    the end of the story. What is the goal that the psalmist wants?

    That is his goal. In Blockbuster (2013) desire is divided into

    three different acts.

    Goal: You are my son; today I am your father. (Ps.

    2:7)

    Motive: Serve the Lord with fear. (Ps. 2:11)

    Stakes: To shepherd his people. (Ps. 2:9)

    If he loses: he will not survive the day

    of judgment.

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    Truby makes a clear distinction between the desire

    (outside ) and need (inside). Need is always related to the

    weakness of the hero. It is what he needs to become whole

    again and be free. The desire of the hero has to do with an

    objective goal that the hero wants to obtain.

    Unlike Psalm One, Psalm Two reveals many battles

    the hero must overcome in order to become the hero.

    .//0%"%1

    The opponent of the story is the person who wants to

    stop the hero from accomplishing his goal; however, both the

    opponent and the hero are competing for the same goal.6

    Both the opponent of the psalmist and the psalmist are

    competing for what goal? They are both searching for

    happiness. The Psalmist seeks happiness by meditating on

    the law of the Lord day and night, while the sinner, the

    scoffer, and the wicked, search for happiness by following

    5Truby, p. 41.

    6Truby, pg. 44.

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    the way of the wicked. While the Psalmist depends upon the

    Lord to lead him to happiness, the wicked man believes he

    can find happiness by himself.

    Who are the opponents of the Psalmist? They are the

    ones who bury their consciences in the sand of morality, so

    that they will not have to consider the first principles right

    and wrong in their lives. The self-righteous person believes

    he/she can justify their own existence and by doing so justify

    their own actions as being good or bad, while the just person

    follows a different principle of understanding themselves.

    They see their actions as not having any meaning, except that

    they conform to the will of God in their lives. If in their

    consciences it doesnt conform to the Divine Will, they are

    not inclined to carry out the least thing. With faith at the

    center of all their moral actions, they do not judge any

    singular action in and of itself, but see their whole lives as

    only a reflection of what God does thru them, which only

    charity and faith detect.

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    The opponents in this psalm are those who are rising

    up against the Kings anointed and who gather together to

    plot how to overthrow the Kings anointed. These are the

    treacherous enemies of the King, who would have his own

    Son dethroned in order that they would rule. Perhaps they are

    jealous of the power of this newly appointed King who has

    been promised all the nations as an inheritance.

    23#%

    What is the plan of the Psalmist? How will he come

    to his goal? The plan is the set of guidelines, or strategies,

    the hero will use to overcome the opponent and reach the

    goal.7 The Psalmist sees that on Gods Law they (should)

    study day and night. This is their battle plan and in this they

    see all of their actions. As their actions are more conformed

    to this principle they believe they are carrying out what God

    intends in their life, while if they perceive that their law is

    drifting from this continual conformity to Gods Law then

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    they believe that they are not heeding Gods reign. What are

    they willing to go thru in order to reach their goal? That is

    what is called their battle.

    4#113"

    The battle is the attacks the Psalmist will receive in

    the face of living out his commitment to God in his life.

    Much of this battle will be in confronting those who

    grumble in vain,(vs. 1) in shepherding with an iron

    rod,(vs. 9) and in remaining steadfast in the face of those

    who plot together against the Lord and his anointed. (vs. 2)

    What self-revelation does the Psalmist receive by living this

    kind of life?

    The psalmist speaks of this anointed King as

    having a heavy burden to bear from those who want to see

    him dethroned, yet he has gained the blessing of the King

    himself, so he has nothing to fear form his enemies.

    7Truby, pg.45.

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    1-'234-5-'*6)&7

    Insights come to the hero in the form of self-

    revelation. The Psalmist begins to realize that no one can

    really hurt you if you are only fulfilling your own cause in

    the light of what God asks of you. Someone can oppose your

    external actions, but no one can make you do what God alone

    can command you to do nor not do. What does the hero learn

    about himself and how does it change him/her? The Psalmist

    comes to a deeper understanding that the power that supports

    is mission is greater than his opponents. He has been blessed

    with a royal privilege. He only needs to fulfill his desire to do

    the Kings will and the King will uphold him. Already the

    King laughs at his enemies, knowing that they will not be

    able to overcome his anointed.

    ,-8 9:;)')

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    look back at his triumph and appreciate the growth that it has

    brought him. A new strength has developed in the hero. The

    hero finds some new strength or wisdom in their life.

    Reaching this inner transformation, the hero is able to return

    to his owl world and help others overcome the very same

    things he has learn to battle and overcome. He has truly

    become a hero.

    This equilibrium is established in the hero

    after a long and arduous battle that he has to enter into. Often

    this equilibrium comes about as a result of his internal as well

    as his external battles.

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    56" (#1,0%& 2-01"&17

    Why do the nations protest

    and the peoples grumble in vain? (New

    American Bible, Ps. 2:1)

    The psalmist ask this question because he is awe-

    struck at the incredulity of these people who raise themselves

    up against the Lord of glory. He doesnt refer to one person

    but a nation of protesters. Is it possible that so many people

    could try to find fault against God? Yet, many people think

    that if there are enough people who turn against God, then

    God will change, but that is a fantasy. See how many have

    turned against God since the beginning of human history,

    even since the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Has God

    changed? No!

    See how many have left the Church and

    started so many denominations, causing disunity in the One

    Church of God. Has God changed? No! Why do they protest?

    They protest because they do not have the faith to see that

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    God is Love and that unless he were love, neither could they

    protest nor exist. By their existence he shows his power, by

    allowing them to protest he shows his mercy and patience.

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    8,%9& 0% "#-16 -,&" :/

    Kings on earth rise up

    and princes plot together

    against the Lord and his anointed: (New American

    Bible, Ps. 2:2)

    Is this not folly that those who are filled with

    arrogance and have allowed pride and conceit to puff their

    minds up, so that they no longer see the majesty of God but

    the vanity of their own ego? That is exactly what happens

    when self displaces God. This is the same thing that satan

    said, I will not serve. Could anyone presume to do

    anything at all without the very hand of God giving him the

    power even to do the least natural thing? Here the Psalmist

    shows that a man may be great in the eyes of men, yet be

    very far from the King of Kings, who neither needs rulers or

    Kings to do his will. It is one thing when a man lifts up his

    heart to God in prayer and beg for mercy, but it is quite

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    another to try to lift oneself up above God, which is insane

    pride. He so flatters himself in his own mind and so deceives

    those who are near him to make them think that all he does

    comes from Him, but he is wrong and God will humble him

    forever in the sight of all. Jesus said those who were afraid to

    acknowledge him before men, he would also be ashamed of

    before his heavenly Father.

    To see how evil is pride and how it corrupts

    even the greatest of men, see how these men not only want to

    overcome the King but also the anointed of the King. Just as

    a Prince inherits the power of the throne, so the anointed of

    the Lord inherits the power of the Lord. But they erred in

    vain. When they saw the lowly carpenter from Nazareth, they

    thought to themselves, isnt this the son of the carpenter?

    The same pride lives today in the hearts of so many people.

    They build up larger barns for themselves on earth and want

    everyone to praise them for their great accomplishments,

    even going so far as to try to steal the very glory of God, but

    God cannot be mocked by their pride. He will see those evil

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    men, who are already receiving their praise from men, get

    what they deserve. God is not outwitted by foolishness, no

    matter how many people follow these evil leaders. Can God

    be changed by an evil will and mind? No, God doesnt have

    to change for anyone. But these evil men, who are even

    taking their places even in the sanctuary of God, will be cast

    down for all eternity by the breath of the Only-Begotten to

    whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given to.

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    ;"1 :&

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    end. He only allows this evil to happen so that those who

    have faith and keep their feet shackled to the sweet Law of

    love, will be even more enlightened and strengthened when

    the see how God guides the wicked on their way. The wicked

    think that by hiding their evil intention behind a billboard

    God does not see their evil hearts, but they are wrong and

    God will show them their eternal wickedness in time. God

    acts patiently, so that the good wheat of his elect is not pulled

    up with the weeds of the wicked. He lets them grow together,

    but evidently they do not bear the same fruit. They play like

    they are experts before the world, but God will show them

    how childish their games are.

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    The one enthroned in heaven laughs;

    The Lord derides them. (New American Bible, Ps.

    2:4)

    The person here who laughs in not the King nor a

    prince, but God himself who creates all things from nothing.

    He is in need of nothing, yet the wicked think that God does

    not see their evil deeds and that he is the witness of their

    inmost self. What does the psalmist say? He says God

    laughs. He doesnt laugh as we do when we experience the

    incongruous, but God laughs because he sees the end of the

    wicked who follow their own wicked counsel. As the

    psalmist says, they so flatter themselves in their own mind

    they know not their guilt. God becomes no less blessed

    because the wicked continue to do their wicked deeds. God is

    not moved by their evil, but neither will he allow them to put

    God to shame, for no one can shame God. God acts humble

    and meekly towards them and shows not his anger, but that

    does not change Gods eternal justice, for God is immutable.

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    The wicked believe that since God allows them to carry on

    with their foolish lives God means it is O.K., but they are

    sadly mistaken, God derides them. God chooses not to

    confront them now, since he knows they are set in their evil

    ways, but there will come a time, since there is a time for

    everything under the sun, and at that time he will minister

    his justice. Even then it is God who laughs. God laughs for

    he is infinitely blissful and happy and he cannot be anything

    but blissful. No evil robs him of his blissfulness, even when

    the wicked flatter themselves and the whole world.

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    56"% &/"#$& 10 16"? ,% #%9"-

    Then speaks to them in anger,

    terrifies them in wrath: (New American Bible, Ps. 2:5)

    He laughs, but there will come a time when he will

    punish. He will then set them apart some on his left and

    others on his right. He will judge them all, and everyones

    works will be tested to see where they stand. All the vanity

    will be drained from these works and only those who have

    built them on this Word will endure. For he is the only

    enduring reality and the One that the Father is well pleased.

    Then they will realize that they have nowhere to hide, since

    the Word speaks to all things and everywhere and they will

    not be able to run far enough from his voice, for they will

    have to live with the conviction of his Word in their corrupt

    minds and hearts for all eternity. As the psalmist say it will

    be a terrifying judgment. They will see then that the things

    they were doing which they thought were harmless were

    destroying the work of God and had no eternal value before

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    God. When the just are being born aloft to heaven, they will

    remain shamefaced before God unable to repent nor enter the

    Kingdom. Now they laugh when they should be weeping;

    now they play when they should be studying the law of the

    Lord day and night; now they lie and cheat behind closed

    doors when they should be walking in the light of truth and

    the beauty of love.

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    @ ?A&"3B 6#>" ,%&1#33") ?A 8,%9

    I myself have installed my King

    on Zion, my holy mountain. (New American Bible,

    Ps. 2:6)

    Who has installed his King? It is the Lord who has

    installed his only Begotten Son. This is God from God and

    light from light, true God from true God. But the wicked

    think that this is only words in a theology book, for they fear

    not the Majesty of God that will strike them down. They

    mock the blood of Jesus Christ by their evil ways. Men

    sleeping with men and women sleeping with women,

    knowing that all these things are sinful and no pleasing to

    God. God is not mocked by their wickedness. They will

    never stand on Gods holy Mountain. When God installs no

    one can change it. The wicked think that they can depose

    God from his eternal throne. They err wrongly and eternally

    when they do this, for God sees all the thoughts of their

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    hearts and he sees how he will punish them for all eternity in

    their arrogance and pride. The heap insult upon God and his

    Church, but God sees how he will deal with them for all

    eternity and how the Only Son of God will deal with them in

    his wisdom.

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    I will proclaim the decree of the Lord,

    who said to me, You are my son;

    today I am your father. (New American Bible, Ps.

    2:7)

    What will he proclaim? He will proclaim what has

    been given to him from eternity, to do the will of God. The

    decree is the will of God in which is all delight. In eternity

    the Father always calls his Son by his natural name, which is

    the Word. As St. John says, in the beginning was the Word

    and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (Jn. 1:

    1) So the wicked were wrong in trying to depose the Son

    form his throne, since it was the Father, in his eternity, who

    placed him. When I say placed, I mean that in the unity of the

    Blessed Trinity, the Unity is eternal. The Father begets the

    Son and the Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.

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    .%3A #&$ ,1 0B ?"

    Only ask it of me,

    and I will make your inheritance the nations,

    your possession the ends of the earth. (New

    American Bible, Ps. 2:8)

    So powerful is God that he would give his only Son

    all the nations as an inheritance. Already Jesus acknowledges

    that the Father has given to him authority to judge all the

    nations. Only one thing does Jesus want more than all, my

    food and my drink is to do the will of him who sent me.

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    With an iron rod you shall shepherd them

    Like a clay pot you will shatter them. (New

    American Bible, Ps. 2:9)

    The psalmist shows how powerful will the shepherd

    rule over his flock and how he will break his enemies

    strength with his meekness and humility. He will not bruise

    the bent reed, scripture says of him. Though he was seen to

    be weak exteriorly, yet interiorly he was like us in all things

    but sin. This interior commitment to the Fathers will would

    be the downfall of his enemies who wanted to overcome his

    kingdom with natural methods, while his Kingdom was

    established in eternal wisdom and power.

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    USCCB, comp. The New American Bible. Wichita: FiresideBible, 2001. Print.

    Brown, Raymond Edward, Joseph A Fitzmyer, and Roland E

    Murphy. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.

    Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1990. Print.

    Freedman, David Noel. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New

    York: Doubleday, 1992. Print.

    Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story : 22 Steps to Becoming aMaster Storyteller. New York: Faber andFaber, 2007. Print.

    The Anchor Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964.Print.

    Bloomfield, Matt. Truby's Blockbuster. Vers. 6.10. Computersoftware. Truby Studio, 2013. Mac OS X.

    Bourke, Vernon J.Ethics: A Textbook in Moral Philosophy.New York: Macmillan, 1951. Print.

    The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992.Print.

    Thomistic Philosophy. Charlottetown, Canada: St. Dunstan'sUniversity, 1950. Print.

    Ignatius. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: ATranslation and Commentary. St. Louis:Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992. Print.

    Ott, Ludwig. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. St. Louis,Mo.: B. Herder Book Co., 1964. Print.

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