Showing posts with label PP9. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PP9. Show all posts

Sunday, August 14, 2011

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.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Propers for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost/1

You can find a listing of readings for this Sunday in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form, together with links to useful resources on them over at the Divine Lamp.  For Sunday the psalms set down are:

Ordinary Form: Psalm 66 (67)

In the Ordinary Form, the Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 66, which will be extremely familar to those who say the Benedictine version of the Office since it is said daily at Lauds.  This joyful and uplifting psalm starts and ends by requesting God’s blessing on us. It is the quintessential psalm of the Church’s mission though: it asks for and points to God’s guidance for Governments, and for the spread of God’s word and praise across the whole world:

Deus misereátur nostri, et benedícat nobis: * illúminet vultum suum super nos, et misereátur nostri.
2 Ut cognoscámus in terra viam tuam, * in ómnibus Géntibus salutáre tuum.
3 Confiteántur tibi pópuli, Deus: * confiteántur tibi pópuli omnes.
4 Læténtur et exsúltent Gentes: * quóniam júdicas pópulos in æquitáte, et Gentes in terra dírigis.
5 Confiteántur tibi pópuli, Deus, confiteántur tibi pópuli omnes: * terra dedit fructum suum.
6 Benedícat nos Deus, Deus noster, benedícat nos Deus: * et métuant eum omnes fines terræ.

The Douay-Rheims translates this as:

May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us.
3 That we may know your way upon earth: your salvation in all nations.
4 Let people confess to you, O God: let all people give praise to you.
5 Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for you judge the people with justice, and direct the nations upon earth.
6 Let the people, O God, confess to you: let all the people give praise to you:
7 The earth has yielded her fruit. May God, our God bless us,
8 may God bless us: and all the ends of the earth fear him

Extraordinary Form

The Epistle this Sunday is 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 (against idolatry, fornication, temptation of God, and murmuring); the Gospel is St Luke 19:41-47, the cleansing of the Temple and prophesy of the destruction of Jerusalem by Our Lord. This week's psalm propers in the Extraordinary Form are from:

Psalm 53:3, 6-7 (Introit)


6  Ecce Deus ádjuvat me, et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ:
7. avérte mala inimícis meis, et in veritáte tua dispérde illos, protéctor meus, Dómine.
3. Deus in nómine tuo salvum me fac: et in virtúte tua líbera me.

Or:

For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.


Psalm 8:2 (Gradual)

Dómine, Dóminus noster, quam admirábile est nomen tuum in univérsa terra! Quóniam eleváta est magnificéntia tua super cælos.

O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth!

Psalm 58:2 (Alleluia)

Erípe me de inimícis meis, Deus meus: et ab insurgéntibus in me líbera me.

or

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from them that rise up against me.

Psalm 18:9-12 (Offertory)

Justitiæ Dómini rectæ, lætificántes corda, et judícia ejus dulcióra super mel et favum: nam et servus tuus custódit ea.

or

The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: and his justice is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb: for your servant keeps them.