NEED FOR GOD'S HELP BEFORE THE RICH AND ARROGANT

VATICAN CITY, JUN 15, 2005 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in a rain-soaked St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke on the subject of Psalm 122: "The people's faith in the Lord."

  Benedict XVI told the 32,000 people who had gathered to hear him that this psalm describes "the faithful who raises his eyes to the Lord and awaits a divine response, in order to see a loving gesture, a benevolent gaze. ... The psalmist uses an image, that of the servant and the slave girl looking to the hand of their master, awaiting a liberating decision."

  The Holy Father continued: "The psalm is a plea in which the voice of one member of the faithful joins that of the entire community. ... The hope is expressed that the hands of the Lord will open to scatter forth gifts of justice and freedom."

  The Holy Father highlighted the importance of God's loving gaze, which appears in the second half of the psalm, "characterized by the cry: 'Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us!' This is a continuation of the end of the first part of the psalm, which emphasizes the idea of awaiting confidently: 'till He have mercy upon us.'

  "The faithful need God's intervention because they are in a dire situation, suffering scorn and disdain at the hands of the rich and arrogant. ... For this reason, the just have entrusted their cause to the Lord, Who does not remain indifferent to their imploring eyes, Who does not ignore their plea, Who does not disappoint their hope."
AG/PSALM 122/...                                VIS 20050615 (270)