“Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Tradition has passed down that this wonderful psalm was sung by pilgrim worshipers to sing as they traveled to the city of Jerusalem to worship at the temple during the major Jewish feasts. This psalm recognizes how God has delivered them from disaster, from the hands of their enemies, from their struggles and their strife. The psalmist declares that things would have been so much worse if God had not been with them.
As we declare our help comes from the Lord, I wanted to mention a Saint we celebrated yesterday, Mary of Salome, since she shares that day with John Paul II, and is definitely overshadowed by him. Tradition has it that Mary Salome was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the apostles John and James the Greater, the Sons of Thunder, two of Jesus’ close friends and two of the 12 apostles. Mary of Salome, their mother, is referred to as one of the "three Marys,” who, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, followed Jesus and helped to minister to him and his disciples. Some Bible scholars speculate that Mary of Salome provided financial assistance to Jesus and his companions. Mary of Salome was a witness to Christ’s crucifixion and entombment and one of the women who anointed Christ’s body. Legend passes down that after Pentecost, Mary of Salome traveled to Veroli in central Italy where she preached the Gospel for the rest of her life.
As we hear in the psalm trust in the help God gives us, we can just imagine the great faith that sustained Mary of Salome, as she watched her son leave everything they had to follow Jesus. This must have been frightening for her. May also of us follow her example as a person of faith and love.
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