Tag: Psalms
Psalm 139(138): “The wonder of my being”
1. At this General Audience on Wednesday of the Octave of Christmas, the liturgical Feast of the Holy Innocents, let us resume our meditation on Psalm 139[138], proposed in the Liturgy of Vespers in two distinct stages. After contemplating in the first part (cf. vv. 1-12) the omniscient and omnipotent God, the Lord of being… Read More ›
Psalm 139(138): “O where can I go?”
1. The Liturgy of Vespers – on whose Psalms and Canticles we are meditating – offers us in two separate phases the reading of a sapiential hymn of clear beauty and strong emotional impact: Psalm 139[138]. Today, we have before us the first part of the composition (cf. vv. 1-12), that is, the first two strophes… Read More ›
3 Steps to praying the Psalms, and finding hope in our darkness
Let’s try just Psalm 73 — summarized by “It’s not fair” — and allow God to restore us. Do you want proof that the human soul is rational and immortal, that God exists, created a moral universe and is a just judge? Do you want proof that our choices matter? Do you want (additional) proof… Read More ›
St. Benedict Knew How to Beat the Blues
A while back, for whatever reason, I was most uncharacteristically doing battle with the devilish little megrim that is acedia. Actually, “doing battle” sounds romantic and pro-active. It would be more accurate to say I have been whining, and sitting before my oratory with nothing but a keening emptiness in my heart and mind and… Read More ›
Psalm 51(50): Have mercy on me, O God!
1. For the fourth time during our reflections on the Liturgy of Lauds, we hear proclaimed Psalm 51[50], the famous Miserere. Indeed, it is presented anew to us on the Friday of every week, so that it may become an oasis of meditation in which we can discover the evil that lurks in the conscience and beg the Lord… Read More ›
Psalms 141(140) and 142(141)
With this evening liturgy, we begin the itinerary of a new liturgical year, entering into the first of its seasons: Advent. In the biblical reading that we have just heard, taken from the First Letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul uses precisely this word: “coming”, which in Greek is parusia andadventus in Latin (1 Thes 5: 23). According… Read More ›
Psalm 142(141): “I cry with my voice to the Lord!”
On the evening of 3 October 1226, St Francis of Assisi lay dying: his last prayer was, precisely, the recitation of Psalm 142[141] that we have just heard. St Bonaventure recalls that Francis “burst out with the exclamation of the Psalm: “I cry with my voice to the Lord, with my voice I make supplication to… Read More ›
Psalm 51(50): Where sin abounded, grace was more abundant!
1. Every week, in the Liturgy of Lauds for Friday, we pray Psalm 50, the Miserere, the pentitential Psalm, that is so much beloved, sung and meditated upon. It is a hymn raised to the merciful God by the repentant sinner. We have already had the chance in a previous catechesis to give a general overview of this great… Read More ›
Psalm 51(50): Take not your Holy Spirit from me
1. Every week the Liturgy of Lauds repeats Psalm 50[51], the famous Miserere. We have already reflected on sections of it on other occasions. Now also, we will reflect in a particular way on a section of this grandiose plea for forgiveness: verses 12-16. First of all, it is important to note that in the original Hebrew the word… Read More ›
Psalm 141(140): “Prayer in danger”
1. In previous catecheses, we gave an overall look at the structure and value of the Liturgy of Vespers, the great ecclesiastical prayer of the evening. We now journey into its interior. It will be like making a pilgrimage to that “holy land” made up of the Psalms and Canticles. One by one we will reflect on each… Read More ›