VATICAN CITY, MAY 18, 2005 (VIS) - At the beginning of the general audience, celebrated in a rain-soaked St. Peter's Square, the Pope recalled that today "our beloved Pope John Paul II would have been 85. We are certain that he is watching us from on high and that he is with us. We wish to give thanks to the Lord for the gift of this great Pope, and for everything he did and suffered."
Then, commenting on the catechesis theme, Psalm 112, "Praise the name of the Lord," Benedict XVI explained to the 25,000 people present that it "exalts the freedom from slavery" of the people of Israel, and their joy over "serving the Lord in liberty."
The first part of the psalm, he said, "praises the 'name of the Lord,' which in biblical language indicates the person of God Himself, His living and active presence in human history. ... All being and all time, 'from the rising of the sun to its setting,' is involved in a single act of thanksgiving."
The second part, the Holy Father affirmed, celebrates "the Lord's transcendence. ... 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. ... With His loving gaze and His effective commitment towards the lowest and most wretched of the world, 'He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap.' ... God bends down, then, to the needy and the suffering to console them. ... The psalmist praises a God very different from us in His greatness, yet at the same time very close to His creatures who are suffering."
Benedict XVI concluded by indicating that the closing verses foreshadow "the words of Mary in the Magnificat, the canticle of the choice of God, Who 'contemplates the humility of His servant.' In a more radical way than in our psalm, Mary proclaims that God 'has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree'."
AG/PSALM 112/... VIS 20050518 (380)
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