Lectio notes on the Propers, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost - Introit (Psalm 53)

The Introit for this week is from Psalm 53 (54), Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac.  The text of the Introit in the order that we hear it as Mass is as follows: 

Ecce Deus ádjuvat me (Behold, God is my helper), et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ (and the Lord has sustained my soul): avérte mala inimícis meis (turn back the evil on my enemies), et in veritáte tua dispérde illos (and in your truth disperse them), protéctor meus, Dómine (O Lord my protector). Deus in nómine tuo (O God by your name) salvum me fac (save me): et in virtúte tua (and in your strength) líbera me (deliver me).

Context

This psalm is given a particular historical context by its title (noting that the titles of the psalms preserved in the Septuagint/Vulgate are very ancient indeed), namely the warning to David that the Philistines with whom he had taken refuge planned to betray him to Saul, causing him to flee once more to the wilderness (1 Samuel 23).

Dom Gueranger's commentary on the day in his Liturgical Year, however, puts it in the context of today's Gospel, Our Lord weeping for the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and the cleansing of the Temple:

"Israel had made himself the enemy of the Church; and God, as He had warned him, punishes and disperses his children.  The Church takes occasion, from the fulfilment of the divine judgments, to profess the humble confidence she has in her Spouse's aid."

The virtue of justice

This psalm, like many, asks for deliverance from enemies, and asks for them to be punished.  In the version used in the liturgy, the final plea is to be freed from his enemies; in the Vulgate, the word 'judge' is used instead of 'deliver' or 'free' me.  They come to the same thing, as St Robert Bellarmine observes in his commentary on the Psalm: "...that is, be my judge, defend me as I deserve, and avenge me of my enemy.."

Over and over Scripture tells us that the righteous man can call on God and be confident of his help, while the unjust man's pleas will go unheeded.  Over and over we are told that what we do now will either store up for us treasure in heaven, or punishment in hell.

Yet this basic concept of justice - the idea that sooner or later there will be consequences for our actions - is one we tend to shy away from these days, to the destruction of society, as is seen in the English riots. Modern theologians promote the idea of an empty hell (an idea completely at odds with the repeated warnings of Our Lord); too often the punishments meted out by the courts fall well short of fitting the crime; and in too many countries the State works to undermine the authority and bonds of the family rather than promote it.

Today's Gospel (St Luke 19) tells us that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was a punishment for the failure of the failure of the Jewish people to recognise their Messiah.  

What then should the punishment be for a society that has turned its back on God and worships pleasure instead; that rejects even the gift of life, slaughtering its unborn innocents?  No wonder we have global warming, a financial crisis, and a society losing all cohesion....

How then, can we personally work to restore the concept of justice in our faith and society?  A worthy topic for meditation, contemplation and action.