I Will Show the Saving Power of God

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent reflection on the Psalm

The responsorial Psalm for today’s Mass is “To the upright I will show the saving power of God.” One of the ideas I write about frequently is the Church's first mission—Proclaiming the gospel with words. All of the readings for today’s Mass deal with some form of judgment. The first reading is from the prophetic text of Isaiah, the gospel in which we find Jesus rebuking the Pharisees for hoarding authority over the people in hypocrisy.

A few days ago, I read today's readings. I thought I would write on the gospel and perhaps make some mention of the state of the Church’s leadership. I’d finish the reflection with some encouraging words about weathering the storm—you’ve been chosen by God to live during these turbulent days, a type of pep talk! The gospel for today takes place right before Jesus’ woes, or curses, against the Pharisees—I might write about the concept of Hell, and how Jesus teaches that Hell is a very real place of judgment.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we, the baptized, the body of Christ, cannot really do much about the leadership of the Church. The Church is not a democracy—our complaints do very little—they might even cause scandal! Our complaints might serve as a roadblock to someone seeking the graces of God and joining the Church.

In the Psalm for today, the response reads, “To the upright I will show the saving power of God.” Who is the upright? Do we even think about this when we give the response in Mass?

In the last part of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to the disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”¹

There are a few things to digest here at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. There is certainly a hierarchy of how these things are done in our Church. The Church wants parents to become part of a parish and assures them that they will catechize their children before a child is baptized. The Church also wants new converts to participate in the OCIA order of rite to become more invested in the Catholic faith. However, if there is a case of emergency, any person, regardless of whether they’re baptized themselves, can baptize someone, so long as they do so with the intention of the Catholic Church and the correct formula given in Matthew’s gospel.

What about teaching observance of all that is commanded by Christ? I once had someone tell me that this should be left up to the clergy. I responded that this was clericalism. In fact, the Church states very clearly that the first and principal teachers of the faith in a child’s life are his or her parents.

So, what about proclaiming the gospel, a mission close to my heart? The Catholic Church, during Vatican II, issued a document titled APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM, which is a decree on the Apostolate of the Laity. In fact, the notion of the Apostolate of the Laity is, in many ways, I’d argue, the operating document of Missio Dei Catholic as a movement. The Church tells us in this document:

Our own times require of the laity no less zeal: in fact, modern conditions demand that their apostolate be broadened and intensified.²

The Psalm for today puts in the mouth of the faithful, “I will show the saving power of God.” Naturally, the response begs a question—How are you doing this in your life? Jesus tells us to proclaim His gospel to all nations, the Psalm puts the concept on our lips, but what are we doing concretely in our lives to put this mission into action? The decree on the Apostolate of the Laity explains:

an apostolate of this kind does not consist only in the witness of one’s way of life; a true apostle looks for opportunities to announce Christ by words addressed either to non-believers with a view to leading them to faith, or to the faithful with a view to instructing, strengthening, and encouraging them to a more fervent life. “For the charity of Christ impels us” (2 Cor. 5:14). The words of the Apostle should echo in all hearts, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.”³

Okay. You should know you’re called by the LORD and His Church to be an active missionary of the Gospel—the good news! Who are the upright? It would be a good time to grab your Bible and open it to Psalm 50 v. 5:

Gather to me my faithful ones,

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”⁴

The context of the Psalm is the people of Israel, their sacrifices, and the Mosaic covenant. There is an important lesson for those who are not biblical exegetes: understanding the concept of covenant(s) in the Old Testament. There are two different types of covenants explained by Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ:

The term “covenant” is the usual translation of the Hebrew b’rith and the Greek diatheke. Scholars commonly distinguish between two types of covenant, the covenant grant and the covenant treaty. The covenant grant, modeled on the free royal decree, is an unconditional divine gift and is usually understood to be irrevocable…

The prime example of a conditional covenant is that of Sinai, as interpreted in the Deuteronomic tradition. It promises blessings on those who observe its conditions and curses on those who violate them (see, for example, Deuteronomy 30:15-20). The Israelites almost immediately broke the covenant by worshiping the golden calf, but after the people’s repentance, God in his mercy reestablished the covenant. Jeremiah teaches that Israel has broken the Sinai covenant, but that God will give them a “new covenant,” placing his law upon their hearts and making them his people (Jeremiah 31:31-34).⁵

There is no dual covenant. The Mosaic covenant, as explained in The Letter to the Hebrews, has been violated and broken. Jeremiah Chapter 11 explains how the people of Israel broke the Mosaic covenant, and Ezra Chapter 7 shows us in the narrative that the presence of God in the cloud—the Shekinah—does not return to the Second Temple.

When the Psalm today talks about the people of God, Catholics need to understand that the people of God and Israel are, in some manner, now the Catholic Church, filled with both Jews and Gentiles. The notion that there is somehow a plan B is a rejection of the fact that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the covenant grants given to Abraham and David, fulfilled in our LORD.

Our LORD still has a plan—reading Romans Chapter 11, it seems that the Jewish people will, in some way, come into the fold of the Church. The Church has taken a step back in corporate evangelization of the Jewish people, but individually it is still called, as it explains in its latest document written under Pope Francis in 2015—The Gifts and Calling of God are Irrevocable.

The Vatican explains:

“While there is a principled rejection of an institutional Jewish mission, Christians are nonetheless called to bear witness to their faith in Jesus Christ also to Jews, although they should do so in a humble and sensitive manner, acknowledging that Jews are bearers of God’s Word, and particularly in view of the great tragedy of the Shoah.”⁶

So, who are the upright? Paul explains in First Timothy, “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” ⁷

Your mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to ALL people within the apostolate of the laity. The upright are those who, by the grace of God, come to faith in hearing. Every one of us is baptized, sharing the offices of Jesus Christ—our LORD—Priests, Prophets, and Kings. Let us act like it!

1. Mt. 28:18-20, ESV-CE.

2. Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity: Apostolicam Actuositatem,” in Vatican II Documents (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2011).

3. Ibid.

4. Ps. 50:5, ESV-CE.

5. Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ, “The Covenant with Israel,” First Things, accessed March 3rd, 2026. https://firstthings.com/the-covenant-with-israel/

6. The Gifts and Calling of God are Irrevocable, 40.

7. 1 Tim 2:4, ESV-CE.