The Psalms: Treasure of the Church

Welcome to episode 67 of the Catholic Frequency Podcast. Be sure to follow us on the X social media platform. We're also on YouTube, and we just crossed a thousand subscribers on our Substack. People who follow us and subscribe for free on Substack get a free weekly newsletter. Every time we go to mass, we hear the readings.

Right? And one of the things we always hear at mass is the responsorial psalm. And you might think of it as the theme of the mass. The Psalms are a real treasure in the life of a Catholic. You might consider the Book of Psalms the church's ancient prayer book.

Now the Psalms play a very important part in Catholic tradition. Now what is the Book of Psalms? If you haven't opened your Bible and looked at it in a long time, it's a collection of 150 prayers and hymns that have been part of the worship for God's people across millennia. And we traditionally attribute the Psalms to King David, but he didn't write every single one of them. The Psalms, of course, were central to Jewish temple liturgy.

And as Christ fulfilled all of the Jewish scriptures, was crucified, died, and was buried, and then rose into heaven, the Psalms seamlessly became a part of Christian worship. The early Catholic church prayed them in catacombs, monasteries, and private homes. Saint Athanasius famously said that most scripture speaks to us, but the Psalms speak for us. This sort of really captures the unique nature of this book in the Bible. They're not just words to be read, but they resonate with our own experiences so many times.

We can see our joys and our sufferings when we read the Psalms. In Catholic tradition, the Psalms are the backbone of the Liturgy of the Hours. Now that is the church's daily prayer that's prayed by priests, deacons, members of religious communities, and an increasing number of laypeople Every day, through morning prayer, evening prayer, and other hours, there's a global chorus lifting the words of the Liturgy of the Hours up to God, always including readings from the Psalms. Think about this. The unity of all of these different people around the world praying.

It might be a farmer in rural Ireland, a nun in Rome, a truck driver in Miami. Were all coming together as Catholics in this universal prayer that binds us together in Christ. He prayed the Psalms himself. And we see in his cry, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now as you know, when we're attending mass, we hear the responsorial Psalm right after the first reading.

Now this isn't like filler. This isn't like we need to fill some space between the first and the second reading. The Responsorial Psalm is our response to God's word. It's a time to reflect and reply in song and prayer. Pope Benedict, in one of his weekly audiences, once reflected on Psalm one nineteen, which says, I will delight in your statutes.

I will not forget your word. This reminds us that the Psalms anchor us in God's law, what's expected of us, and his love. The Psalms have sustained the church through trials, persecutions, schisms, and reforms, offering the saints through the ages both solace and strength. Saint John Chrysostom once said, the Psalms are a treasury of divine utterances suited for every occasion. Consider the early martyrs of the church who might have chanted Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble as they face certain death.

Their courage reminds us that these aren't dusty old texts. But the words on the page in your Bible, in the book of Psalms, are actually a companion to go with you, to strengthen you, to remind you what God has done for you and what God has promised to do for you in the future. Now if you've ever read all 150 Psalms, which you could probably do in a week or two, even just reading a few a few of them a day, They really are a masterpiece. The the whole gamut of human emotion is explored. You have moments of praise, lament, trust in God, repentance, even prophecy.

The very last of the Psalms is Psalm one fifty. It calls us to praise God in his sanctuary, with trumpet sound, with lute, and harp. You know, this reminds us that being close to God is joyful and brings joy into our life. And it's not a superficial joy. The joy of the church is a deep recognition of God's goodness.

I mentioned Psalm 22 before the words that Jesus spoke from the cross. That's verse one of that chapter. My god, why have you forsaken me? But it ends in hope. I will tell of your name to my brethren.

Now the categories of Psalms include the Messianic Psalms that foreshadow Christ's life, death, and resurrection. For example, Psalm one ten says, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand. During his lifetime, Pope Francis said, the Psalms are the prayer of Jesus for all season. Jesus prayed the Psalms. Now, how can we make the Psalms a living part of our Catholic life?

They're not just for liturgy at the mass. You go, you hear them, and that's it. But, therefore, our lives, our mornings, our commutes to work, our quiet time at night, how can we integrate those into our spiritual life? We'll start very simply. There are some Psalms that are pretty short.

And if you memorize some very short Psalms, they'll come to mind from time to time when you need them. For example, when you're thinking about going to confession. Psalm 51, create in me a clean heart, oh Lord. Memorizing a verse or two can actually become a lifeline in moments of stress you will face in the future. There's a website, divineoffice.org, where you can actually pray the liturgy of the hours.

If you make that a habit of doing every single day, you're gonna be incorporating many of the Psalms into your daily spiritual life. So don't think of the Psalms as as being something confined to the church. Right? When we go to mass, there are things that stay in the church. Right?

There's things like the what they call the thurible, right, where the that holds the incense, And there's the ambo, where the word is proclaimed. These things stay in the church. You know, you don't take things like this home. But the Psalms should go with you. They should be your companion.

They're not just something to hear when you come to mass. They're not like halftime between the first and the second reading. They're the theme of the mass. They're really the theme of our lives, because we're all gonna go through moments of joy. We're all gonna go through moments of sadness.

Also, by studying the Psalms more, especially the ones that are prayed in moments of heartache, might just prepare us to evangelize. And, you know, I think I think a lot of us think this is the job of the priest. The bishop does this stuff. But laypeople are called to go forth and spread the good news. In fact, at the end of every mass, there's the sending.

Go forth. The mass has ended. That doesn't mean go forth and forget about what we just did here. It means go forth and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, primarily through your actions. But imagine a situation at work where someone was received some upsetting news, and if you might suggest to them some of the different Psalms they might wanna read.

You know, it it's not being pushy, but it's being prepared. It's knowing your faith. It's knowing the word. And the Holy Spirit will provide you opportunities to help other people when they need it and when they're receptive. And you could really change the whole course of their life if there are people who don't believe in God and they come to him.

Think of the beauty, the spiritual fruits, generationally, if they came into the church and their children were baptized. Just by knowing your faith, you could change someone's life very dramatically and the lives of their descendants. And you know, with the Psalms, it's easy. These are beautiful. These are beautiful to read.

It's not like dusting off a a book about the church fathers, which might be more academic and harder for a wide range of people to really dig into. The Psalms are for everyone. You've been listening to the Catholic Frequency Podcast. Follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for this audio podcast. You can also follow us on the YouTube platform, Substack, and the X social media platform.