Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - During his general audience in St Peter’s Square on 2 November, Pope Benedict XVI explained the meaning of psalm 111 (“Blessed is the just man” - Second Vespers Sunday week four; Ps 111,1-6). The just, the Pope said, are those who “fear the Lord, recognise his transcendence and obey his will with trust and love waiting to encounter him after death”. Recalling that it was All Souls Day the Pope said: “After celebrating yesterday the solemn feast of All the Saints in heaven today we commemorate all the faithful departed. The liturgy invites us to pray for our loved ones who have died, turning our thoughts to the mystery of death, heritage common to all men and women. Illuminated by faith we look at the human enigma of death with serenity and hope. In fact according to Scripture more than an ending, it is a new birth, the compulsory passage through which those who live their lives according to the Word of God may reach the fullness of life.” The psalmist recalls that fear of the Lord means obeying his commandments: the psalm proclaims “blessed is the man who find great joy in keeping the commandments, finding in them joy and peace. Docility to God is the root of hope and harmony inward and exterior. Observance of the moral law is a source of deep peace of conscience”.
The Psalmist wishes to instil trust in those who have chosen to follow the path of morally blameless conduct, rejecting illusory success obtained through injustice and immorality. “The heart of this fidelity to God’s Word consists in a fundamental choice, namely charity towards the poor and the needy”: the believer is generous, he does not fall into the infamy of usury, he sides with the outcast sustaining them with extreme generosity, totally disinterested. The Psalm presents at the end, in one verse, also the profile of the evil person who “consumed with anger and envy watches the success of the just”. At the end of his teaching, inviting those present to pay attention to the portrait of the person who is faithful and charitable, quoted Clement of Alexandria with regard to disinterested charity: “Therefore the Apostle speaks well: ‘God loves those who give with joy’ (2 Cor 9,7), those who take pleasure in giving and sow without sparing to gather in the same way, who share without regret and distinction or pain, this is authentic good work”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 3/11/2005, righe 28, parole 412)
