[The Psalmist asks:] What return shall I make to the Lord? (Ps 115:12). What does this mean? It means "repay". Repay for what? For all that he has given to me. What has he given to me? I was once nothing, and he made me. I was lost, and he looked for me. Looking for me, he found me. I was a captive, and he bought me back. I had been sold, and he freed me. I had been a slave, and he made me a brother. What return shall I make to the Lord? You dont have anything you can give in return. When you await everything from him, what do you have to give in return? .... Why does the Psalmist ask, What return shall I make to the Lord for all he has given me? Looking all over for something to give him in return, he seems to find something. What does he find? I will take up the cup of salvation. You were thinking of giving something in return, and you still desire to take. Please, look: If you still desire to take, you will still be a debtor; when will you be able to give something back? If you will always be a debtor, when will you give something back? You wont find anything; unless he gives it, you wont have it. (Augustine, Sermon 254, 6; PL 28, 1184-85)

Rev. Joseph A. Komonchak, professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

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