MAY DIVINE GRACE SUSTAIN OUR DAYS MARKED BY TRIAL

VATICAN CITY, MAR 26, 2003 (VIS) - In this Wednesday's general audience celebrated in St. Peter's Square in which 13,000 people participated, the Pope spoke about Psalm 89 which presents human frailty and the passing of time.

John Paul II affirmed that at the beginning of the canticle, the psalmist, "with insistence, contrasts God's eternity with the ephemeral time of man. ... Our experience has the fragility of grass that sprouts in the morning and withers in the evening. ... The eternity and power of God is contrasted by the brevity of time accorded man and the limits of human beings, marked by sin."

After pointing out that, according to the psalmist "human life is limited", the Holy Father indicated that "the Lord teaches us to 'count our days' so that, in accepting them with healthy realism, 'we obtain wisdom of heart'. However, the psalmist asks God for something more: that His grace sustain and gladden our days, so fragile and marked by trial. May He allow us to taste the flavor of hope, even though the wave of time seems to carry us away. Only the grace of the Lord can give consistency and timelessness to our daily actions."

"We ask God with prayer," he concluded, "that a reflection of eternity may penetrate our short life and our actions. With the presence of divine grace in us, a light will shine on the passing of days, misery will become glory, what seems senseless will gain meaning."

AG;PSALM 89;...;...;VIS;20030326;Word: 230;