Tag: John Paul II
Psalm 63(62): My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord
Commentary: 1. Psalm 63(62) on which we are reflecting today is the Psalm of mystical love, which celebrates total adherence to God based on an almost physical yearning and reaching its fullness in a close and everlasting embrace. Prayer becomes longing, thirst and hunger, because it involves the soul and the body. As St Teresa… Read More ›
Daniel 3:57-88, 56: Let every creature bless the Lord
1. “Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord” (Dn 3: 57). A cosmic dimension imbues this Canticle taken from the Book of Daniel, which the Liturgy of the Hours proposes for Sunday Lauds in the first and third weeks. This marvellous litany-like prayer is well-suited to the Dies Domini, the Day of the Lord, that… Read More ›
February 5: World Day For Consecrated Life
WASHINGTON—The 16th annual World Day for Consecrated Life will be observed in parishes in the United States the weekend of February 4-5. The annual celebration was established by Pope John Paul II in 1997, to be marked each year on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation. The U.S. bishops voted to observe the occasion… Read More ›
Psalm 118 [117]: In all our trials, God has the last word
1. The sequence of Psalms from 112[111] to 117[118] was sung during the most important and joyful feasts of ancient Judaism, especially during the celebration of the Passover. This series of hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God were called the “Egyptian Hallel” because, in one of them, Psalm 114 A [113], the exodus of Israel… Read More ›
Vespers, Prayer of Sunset
1. We know from numerous testimonies that from the fourth century onwards Lauds and Vespers had become an established institution in all the great Eastern and Western Churches. This is borne out by St Ambrose: “Just as every day, in going to church or devoting ourselves to prayer at home, we start from God and… Read More ›
Psalm 147:12-20 (147): Jerusalem, praise your saving God
The Lauda Jerusalem that we have just proclaimed is dear to Christian liturgy that often used Psalm 147 to refer to the Word of God which “runs swiftly” on the face of the earth, and also to the Eucharist, the true “bread of finest wheat” that God generously gives to “satisfy” human hunger (cf. vv…. Read More ›
The origins of the Liturgy of Vespers and the symbolism of light
1. Since “every day of our pilgrimage on earth is a gift ever new” of God’s love (Preface for Sundays in Ordinary Time, VI), the Church has always felt the need to devote the days and hours of human life to divine praise. Thus, for Christians, sunrise and sunset, characteristically religious moments for every people… Read More ›
Psalm 147:1-11(146): “Praise the Lord!”
1. The Psalm just sung is the first part of a composition that also includes the next Psalm, n. 147[146], that the original Hebrew had kept as one. It was the ancient Greek and Latin versions which divided the song into two different Psalms. The Psalm begins with an invitation to praise God and then… Read More ›
Psalm 146(145): Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Commentary: 1. Psalm 146[145] that we have just heard is an “alleluia”, the first of five which complete the entire collection in the Psalter. The Jewish liturgical tradition formerly used this hymn as a morning song of praise; it culminates in the proclamation of God’s sovereignty over human history. Indeed, the Psalm ends with the… Read More ›
Psalm 145(144) 13- 21: “The Lord is faithful in all his words’
Commentary: 1. Following the liturgy that divides it into two parts, let us return to , a wonderful hymn in honour of the Lord, a loving King who is attentive to his creatures. Let us now meditate upon the second part of the Psalm: they are verses 14 to 21, which take up the fundamental… Read More ›