Praying the psalms with Blessed John Paul II
Recently we have recalled the pilgrimage to the Italian city of peace, Assisi, which Pope John Paul II celebrated twenty-five years ago when He and World Religious leaders set out from Vatican City Station in prayerful pilgrimage for peace and understanding. It is might also be worthwhile to remember that other, spiritual, pilgrimage that he made to Jerusalem, the City of Peace, through the prayerful catechesis he offered the Church in the ongoing reflection upon the psalms and canticles of the Liturgy of the Hours.
These reflections provided the basis for the catechesis at the weekly General Audience in the latter years of the Pontificate of the now Blessed John Paul II. Furthermore, this series of reflections has been continued by Pope Benedict XVI, both shortly after his election and even in more recent times. We hear the words of the Blessed John Paul II as he commenced this catechesis: “in this way I would like to encourage and help everyone to pray with the same words that Jesus used, words that for thousands of years have been part of the prayer of Israel and the Church.”(General Audience: 28 March, 2001) Here he returned to a hope expressed earlier in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, n.32: ‘that the Church would become more distinguished in the art of prayer, learning it ever anew from the lips of the Divine Master’. Here we have but to recall how the risen Lord would open the minds and hearts of his disciples to all that referred to Him in the scriptures and “in the psalms”(Luke 24:45). Moreover the disciples remembered that Jesus ‘did & said these things’ and that therein the words of the psalms were fulfilled. (Jn.2: 17;cf ps.68) Moreover, it remained the conviction of the early Church that in the psalms it was Christ who was addressed or, at other times, that it was Christ who prayed the psalms, in the sense that the
‘whole Christ’, the head and members of the mystical Body, offered the prayer to the Father!
With this in mind and in honour of the recently beatified Pope John Paul II we refer to several psalms which have a particular resonance at this time of year. Psalm 84
Lord show us your mercy and love; And grant us your salvation!
These words drawn from psalm 84, v.8 express so well our Advent hope and expectation. Furthermore, by bringing together the great themes of mercy and love they take us to the heart of the promises and hopes of the Old Testament which we review and bring to our prayer at this time of year. The psalm celebrates the return of the exiles from captivity. Yet, while it is a song of physical liberation and of return to their land, but it is also represents a return to the Lord from whom they had turned in sin and which had led to their abandonment for those years. The Pope highlights that these two meanings are to be found in the original text. (General Audience, 25th. Sept, 2002) The verse quoted above derives from the second part of the Psalm which the Pope speaks of ‘as dear to all Christians’. Here we find the expressive image of God’s love and fidelity embracing as if they were persons. Moreover there is the meeting of justice and peace: the one springing from earth and the other descending from heaven to effect this new harmony in the midst of humanity. (vv. 10-14) Already in the second century St. Irenaeus of Lyons applied these words to ‘the Christ born of the Virgin Mary’. For as the Pope affirms, ‘Christ’s coming is the source of mercy, the springing up of truth, the flowering of justice, the spendour of peace’.
Furthermore, some of these aspirations have been taken up in the verses of the hymn composed for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II and which praise him in these biblical terms: Bearer of peace and herald of justice! o You have announced to the nations the divine mercy!
The Benedictus
At this stage, the Holy Father seems to draw breath, referring to the long journey that had marked his reflection upon the psalms and canticles of Lauds, and which now brings him to the great and solemn Canticle of praise which hails the birth of the predecessor of the Saviour.(cf. General Audience: 1st Oct. 2003 ) From the opening words this is known as the Benedictus, the highpoint of each Morning prayer which promises us to the mystery of Redemption as portended in the birth and preaching of the Baptist: “and You, little child, will be called the prophet of the most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways”.(Luke 1: 68-79) With these words we greet each morning the dawn of our salvation as brought us in the birth of Our Saviour. The Evangelist Luke himself refers to this hymn as ‘prophetic’, for in these details there is recognised the intimate meaning of all human events as guided by the hand of the Lord. As the child, to be known as the Baptist, would represent the summation of Old Testament prophecy, so is this expressed in the Canticle which celebrates the goal for which David and Abraham yearned: the new Covenant established in their offspring, ‘the shoot of Jesse’. This is brought out on the phrase ‘the rising sun’ which, beyond indicating the light which dawns upon the people
(in fulfilment of Is 9:1, and as used at Midnight Mass of Christmas) also suggests the phrase “the shoot, springing forth from the stump of Jesse’ ( Is 11: 1-2) Thus to those that walk “in darkness and the shadow of death” there appears the light “to guide our feet in the way of peace” (Is. 9, passim). The Pope concludes his presentation with reference to the Venerable Bede who invites his hearers to praise the Lord “who has visited and redeemed his people”
Psalm 72
This invites us to move ahead to a psalm associated with the Christmas/Epiphany period in the celebration of the Birth of the Great King. Here the Holy Father commented upon psalm 72(71) which he speaks of as very dear to Jewish and Christian tradition_ a royal psalm to be interpreted in the Messianic key.(General audience, Dec 1st & 15th, 2004) The opening prayer is that the King ‘may judge the people in justice and your poor in right judgment’. Herein are expressed the Messianic hopes of Isaiah which looked forward to the one who will judge the poor with righteousness. (cf. Is 11:4).
The Messianic King is recognised as such through his justice and love for the poor (vv.12-14); he is their sole source of hope, for He is the representative of their patron and defender, namely God. Their ‘life’ and their ‘blood’ are dear to the Lord and to his King: that is, as the Pope teaches, the right and dignity of each person are to be defended and protected. Furthermore, the Fathers of the Church see in this Messianic King, the face of Christ. According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, we are ‘the poor’ who are rescued and then justified through the action of the Holy Spirit. Or again, Augustine maintains that there was no one to save us: “but He came in person and he saved us”(Expos. In Psalmos, 72) Once again there are the blessings: that the whole of nature is involved in the transformation that is for the good of society (v.16)
Thereafter, the horizons broaden as the psalm speaks of the extent of the messianic kingdom: a vision which sweeps across the map of the then-known world: from the great river of Euphrates to the ends of the earth! (vv. 8-11). But there are specific touches as well: our attention is drawn to the land of Sheba, the source of frankincense…and gold!(v.15). All of a sudden our gaze is taken up with the image of the universal King, foretold by the prophets,
celebrated in the psalms, proclaimed in our feast of Christmas, recognised by the Magi of old.
Here we have the bringing together of the various themes as points of the compass, each one adding something to the prophetic figure. This, in turn, anticipates the words of the gospel, which will speak of that return to the Lord from the points of the compass: many will come from the East and the west and will take their places in the kingdom of heaven.(cf Mt. 8:11). We can bring this reflection to a close by reference to the manner in which Pope Benedict XVI completed the long pilgrimage that had been commenced by his predecessor five years previously. (General Audience: Feb 15th, 2006). Thus, he considered the great canticle of Our Blessed Lady, the Magnificat, in which Mary praises the Lord for the great things that have been accomplished for her and through her. (Luke 1: 46-55) How well this reflection sums up and concludes the spiritual pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II, who guided the faithful by his teaching, and which, now beatified, he continues to share with the Church. With the help of that teaching and with a similar trust in the intercessory role of our Blessed Lady may we confidently pray, throughout this sacred season and in the days ahead, that the ‘Mercy of the Lord reaches from age to age!” (Lk 1: 50)
Once more we refer to the hymn of beatification: Nella Madre del Signore Ci indicasti una guida, Nella sua intercessione La Potenza della grazia! In the Mother of the Lord You have pointed out our guide; And in her intercession…shown the power of divine grace!