Responsorial Prayer

In my Bible class last night, we discussed the Book of Psalms. My first reaction to looking at these Psalms was that I really had never read them. Then, of course, I remembered that we read a Psalm at every Mass. Reading these responsorial Psalms is one of those things I do during the Mass to which I don’t really pay much attention. After last night’s discussion, that will change.

Our instructor, who is as fervent about her Catholic faith as anyone I know, said that when she hears the cantor begin the Psalm, and then hears the congregation answer, it always moves her greatly. She says she is reminded that cantoring and responding to the Psalm is an ancient prayer practice.

Very often I can’t quite make the connection between the Old Testament reading and the Gospel, though I know that much thought was put into the lectionary. Our instructor said to understand the connection, look at the Psalm. She called the Psalm the “anchor” of the readings. For example, if one or both of the readings talk about food – bread in particular – the Psalm will almost always be “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

One thing in particular moved me in last night’s discussion. Our instructor said she had always been disturbed by the Gospel’s declaration that Jesus’ last words as He died on the cross were, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me.” She said she could never understand why Jesus felt that His Father had forsaken Him during this terrifying time. Then she remembered Psalm 22, which begins with these words: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? The Psalm, though written ages before Jesus’ birth, goes on to say:

All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips and jeer;
they shake their heads at me.

And also:

They stare at me and gloat;
They divide my garments among them;
For my clothing they cast lots.

How can you not believe that these words, written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, prophesy Him?

But the Psalm ends on a positive note:

All the ends of the earth
Will worship and turn to the LORD;
All the families of nations
Will bow low before you.
For kingship belongs to the LORD,
The ruler over the nations.
All who sleep in the earth
Will bow low before God;
All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage.
And I will live for the LORD;
My descendants will serve you.
The generation to come will be told of the Lord,
That they may proclaim to a people yet unborn
The deliverance you have brought.

Our instructor says she is convinced that when Jesus spoke those final words, He was not asking God why He had forsaken Him; instead, Jesus, a faithful Jew, was cantoring the first words of Psalm 22, knowing that those Jews at His feet would respond in the ways Jews had responded for hundreds of years – by singing the rest of the Psalm. No doubt Mary His mother; Mary Magdelene, the beloved disciple ,and everyone else standing below the cross prayed the Psalm together.

I plan to finish Lent by reading a Psalm every night.