VATICAN CITY, JAN 15, 2003 (VIS) - During this morning's weekly general audience held in the Paul VI Hall, Pope John Paul II continued his catechesis on the Psalms, focussing on verses 145-152 of Psalm 118 and noting that it is the longest Psalm in the psalter.
The Pope remarked that Psalm 118, "composed of 22 stanzas, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, is a great celebration of God's word as the source of wisdom, life and truth." He added that "in Psalm 118, the words of the prayer and the Word of the Lord form together a constellation which is like the north star of the faith and the trust of the psalmist. His prayer constitutes a dialogue that begins at dawn and continues throughout the day, especially in the difficulties of existence."
"We will entrust our meditation," he went on, "to a great Father of the Church, St. Ambrose. ... Commenting at length on this Psalm, he invites the believer to anticipate dawn, to go to meet the sun of justice: 'Christ will be the first light to shine in the secret of your heart. It is He Who will make the light of the morning shine for you if you meditate on His Word. Let us welcome this call to begin each day by praying to the Lord, that He will come near us and lead us."
"We too welcome St. Ambrose's call," the Holy Father concluded, "and every morning we open our glance to daily life, in its joys and its nightmares, invoking God to stay near us and guide us with His word which infuses serenity and grace."
The Pope summarized his catechesis in French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish and greeted the pilgrim groups present in those languages.
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