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Vatican City,
25th May 2005 (CNA)
- This morning, Pope Benedict XVI, continuing
his series of Wednesday catechesis on the Psalms,
offered the 27,000 gathered pilgrims a message of
hope, assuring them that God will not abandon his
people to the terrors of pain and death.
The Holy Father focused his talk on Psalm
115, "Thanksgiving in the Temple," pointing out
that St. Paul refers to this psalm when he tells
the Corinthians: "Since we have the same spirit of
faith as he had who wrote 'I believed and so I
spoke,' we too believe, and so we speak."
Pope Benedict illustrated the spiritual
harmony between Paul and the Psalmist "in serene
faith, and sincere witness, despite human
suffering and weakness."
Together with Psalm 114, he said, this
Psalm constitutes "a single act of thanksgiving,
addressed to the Lord, Who frees us from the
terror of death."
He added that the writer describes "a
tormented past.”
“The Psalmist has held high the torch of
faith, even when the bitterness of desperation and
sorrow rise to his lips. Around him was an icy
wall of hatred and deceit, because men appeared
false and unfaithful. However, the supplication
becomes gratitude because the Lord has raised His
faithful servant from the dark abyss of
falsehood."
Briefly straying from his prepared text,
the Holy Father told the crowd that, "Christ was
the first martyr, and gave His own life in a
context of hatred and falsehood; yet He
transformed His passion into 'Eucharist' that is
'joy and salvation'."
Returning to his catechesis, Pope Benedict
said that, "The Psalmist prepares, then, to offer
a sacrifice of thanksgiving, in which he will
drink at the ritual chalice, the cup of sacred
libation that is a sign of recognition for having
been set free."
He likewise showed that the Psalmist bears
witness of his own faith in the presence of all
the people and that, "having been saved from
death, feels himself to be the Lord's
'servant,' and 'son of His handmaiden;' a
beautiful Oriental expression indicating a person
born in the same house as his master.”
“The Psalmist”, he said, “humbly and
joyfully professes his association with the House
of God, with the family of created beings united
to him in love and faithfulness."
He concluded, saying: "The entire people of
God thank the Lord of life, Who never abandons the
just in the dark bosom of pain and death, but
leads them to hope and to life."
Closing the weekly audience Pope Benedict
invited all present to participate in the Mass for
the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which he will
celebrate at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening, in St. John
Lateran Basilica.
A traditional procession to the Basilica of
St. Mary Major, will also be celebrated tomorrow,
in order "to express together faith in Christ, Who
is present in the
Eucharist."
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