GENERAL AUDIENCE: ADORATION AND PRAISE FOR KING OF THE UNIVERSE

VATICAN CITY, SEP 18, 2002 (VIS) - "Psalm 95: God, King and Judge of the Universe" was the theme of the catechesis of the Holy Father during the general audience which took place in the Paul VI Hall.

The Pope affirmed that Psalm 95 "exalts the Creator of all beings and the Savior of peoples: 'the world is established, it shall never be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity'. ... Thus, we have the assurance that we have not been abandoned to the dark forces of chaos and chance but we are always in the hands of a merciful and just Sovereign."

"The Psalm," he said, "begins with a festive invitation to praise God. ... The fundamental act before our King, the Lord Jesus who shows His glory in the history of salvation, it is a hymn of adoration, praise and blessing. These attitudes must be present also in our daily liturgy and in our personal prayer."

The Holy Father indicated that the second part of the Psalm opens with "the proclamation of the Lord's majesty." The Fathers of the Church have seen in this Psalm "a prefiguration of the Incarnation and of the Crucifixion, sign of the majestic paradox of Christ."

"The mystery of divine majesty is manifested in the Incarnation. Christ Who reigns on earth, triumphs precisely in the humiliation of the Cross. It is significant that many used to read in the past verse 10 of this Psalm from an evocative cristological perspective: 'The Lord reigned from the wood of the Cross'."

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