August 26, 2025 // Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 139:1-6
Reflect on the Word //
She will never know all I do for her.
It’s the consuming thought I grappled with as I visited my grandmother at her memory care facility.
Is it worth being here if she never remembers I came? I quickly snapped myself out of my ruminating and returned to my grandma and the flowers she held in front of her.
When I turned the corner, her smile had grown. As I handed her the bouquet of colorful daisies, her demeanor had shone brighter. Even though these things were true, I knew that by the next day, she would have forgotten I had come at all due to her dementia.
But if she doesn’t remember, does that mean this visit wasn’t worth it at all? The Lord reminds us through today’s Psalm that the answer is a resounding no.
“You know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar“ (Psalm 139:2). God knows us and everything about us, catching all those acts of kindness or faith that those around us miss or overlook. God knew I took time out of my weekend to visit my grandma. “You have searched me and you know me,” the Psalm reads, and it’s true. He sees and acknowledges every sacrifice, even if I don’t feel it deeply or hear it loudly in the moment, for “with all my ways you are familiar” (Psalm 139:3). The same is true for my grandmother—He sees her and knows her too—and spending time with her myself allows His love to shine through and be felt. While her mind may forget in this lifetime, her heart might remember in the next.
Sister, God thoughtfully pursues knowing us, our hearts, our actions, and our intentions—and He’ll always remember. And when we offer these things to Him, uniting them to Christ’s saving act on the Cross, our acts of love have worth evermore in His eyes. And I can’t think of any better reward than to be personally seen and known by our Lord. We can rest in the knowledge that God sees all that we are and “knows the whole of it” (Psalm 139:4).
Relate to the Lord // Read Psalm 139 slowly, maybe even out loud. Notice what verse or image sticks out to you and carry it in your heart throughout the day.
Liz Homick works at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. as the loudest and most talkative librarian in the building. Since backpacking Europe for six weeks after graduating with her Master’s in Library Science, Liz is a huge advocate of solo travel and attending Mass in every language imaginable. She believes in unconditional kindness and existing brightly despite life’s storms.
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