Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - “Psalm 112 is a short hymn which in the original Hebrew consists of only sixty words all filled with sentiments of trust, praise and joy.” During the general audience this morning in St Peter’s Square Pope Benedict XVI commented psalm 112 - Praised be the name of the Lord - first vespers Sunday Week 3 (reading: Ps 112,1-4.7.9).
“The first part of the psalm, the Holy Father said, "praises the 'name of the Lord,' which - as we know - in biblical language indicates the person of God Himself, His living and active presence in human history. Three times with passionate insistence the ‘name of the Lord’ resounds at the heart of the prayer of adoration. All being and all time, 'from the rising of the sun to its setting,' - the Psalmist says - is involved in a single act of thanksgiving" the Pope explained in his teaching
The second part, the Holy Father affirmed, celebrates the Lord's transcendence. It says: the Lord sits on high... The divine gaze takes in all of reality, both earthly and heavenly beings. Yet His eye is not arrogant or aloof like that of some cold-hearted emperor."
Commenting the last part of the psalm, the Pope indicated how "the Lord stoops attentively to our smallness and indigence which would make us draw back in fear. With His loving gaze and His effective commitment towards the lowest and most wretched of the world... God bends down, then, to the needy and the suffering to console them.”.
“To the woman who is alone and sterile, humiliated in ancient times as of she were a dry and useless branch, God give honour and the immense joy of having many children. The Psalmist praises God who is very different from us in his greatness but he is close to his creatures who suffer. It is easy to foresee in these last verses of in Psalm 112 Mary’s words in the Magnificat, the canticle on the preferences of God «who looks on the lowliness of his handmaid ». (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 18/5/2005, righe 23, parole 341)
