540. What is the importance of the Psalms in prayer? (part 2 continuation)
(Comp 540 repetition) The Psalms are the summit of prayer in the Old Testament: the Word of
God become the prayer of man. Inseparably both personal and communal, and
inspired by the Holy Spirit, this prayer sings of God’s marvelous deeds in
creation and in the history of salvation. Christ prayed the Psalms and brought
them to fulfillment. Thus they remain an essential and permanent element of the
prayer of the Church suited to people of every condition and time.
“In brief”
(CCC 2597) Prayed and
fulfilled in Christ, the Psalms are an essential and permanent element of the
prayer of the Church. They are suitable for men of every condition and time.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2588) The Psalter's
many forms of prayer take shape both in the liturgy of the Temple and in the
human heart. Whether hymns or prayers of lamentation or thanksgiving, whether
individual or communal, whether royal chants, songs of pilgrimage or wisdom
meditations, the Psalms are a mirror of God's marvelous deeds in the history of
his people, as well as reflections of the human experiences of the Psalmist.
Though a given psalm may reflect an event of the past, it still possesses such
direct simplicity that it can be prayed in truth by men of all times and
conditions.
Reflection
(CCC 2589) Certain constant
characteristics appear throughout the Psalms: simplicity and spontaneity of
prayer; the desire for God himself through and with all that is good in his
creation; the distraught situation of the believer who, in his preferential
love for the Lord, is exposed to a host of enemies and temptations, but who
waits upon what the faithful God will do, in the certitude of his love and in
submission to his will. The prayer of the psalms is always sustained by praise;
that is why the title of this collection as handed down to us is so fitting:
"The Praises." Collected for the assembly's worship, the Psalter both
sounds the call to prayer and sings the response to that call: Hallelu-Yah! (“Alleluia"), "Praise
the Lord!" What is more pleasing than a psalm? David expresses it well:
"Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good: let there be praise of our God with
gladness and grace!" Yes, a psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people,
praise of God, the assembly's homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks
for all, the voice of the Church, a confession of faith in song (St. Ambrose, In Psalmum 1 enarratio, 1, 9: PL 14,
924; LH, Saturday, wk 10, OR). [END]
No comments:
Post a Comment