PROCLAIMING THE WORD OF GOD - #6 THE RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Some congregations are very blessed. They deserve plaudits because they have worked hard to develop their ability to sing the response to the psalm. They have also developed the ability to listen to the psalm verses that are sung by the cantor. Each congregation has two options. The first is to use a seasonal psalm throughout Lent, or Easter, or in ordinary time. The second is to use the psalm text that is yoked to the reading just proclaimed.

What happens when this part of the liturgy is done well? First, the congregation learns the discipline of public prayer. Second, it learns to approach the entire liturgy of the word as an unhurried melody and a reflective lyric. It allows the Word of God to penetrate our minds, to sink into our souls, to dance in our imagination, and to touch our innermost selves. Third, the assembly uses music and melody to enhance and interpret the psalm.

One of my favorite psalms is Ps 29. This psalm is an example of how Israel re-interpreted ancient Near Eastern nature religion. Its language is powerful. But, it is even more powerful when Jim Chepponis put the psalm to contemporary music. Another favorite is Ps 95, an invitation to prayer. Its sentiments are powerful But, it is even more powerful when Bob Hurd put the psalm to modern blues-jazz music. The same is true of Fran O'Brien's Blues-jazz renditions of Ps 130. These psalms and their melodies tutor me in prayer.

Some Hebrew psalms have been interpreted in light of Christian experience. Ps 23 and Ps 24 have strong baptismal connections. Ps 34 is often connected with the Eucharist. Ps 130 is often movingly used at funerals. Ps 150 is often interpreted by music and ritual movement. There is such richness in these psalms.

In Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel writes, "the longing for mystic living...(has) rarely subsided in the Jewish soul....(The) psalmist did not feel as if he carried a yoke: 'Thy statutes have been my songs' (119:54). The fulfillment of the mitzvoth was felt to be not a mechanical compliance but a personal service in the palace of the King of Kings. Is mysticism alien to the spirit of Judaism? Listen to the psalmist: 'As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O Lord. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God?' (42:2-3) 'My soul yearneth, yea even pineth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the Living God' (84:3). 'For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand' (84:11). 'In thy presence is fullness of joy' (16:11).

It has often been said that Judaism is an earthly religion, yet the psalmist states, 'I am a sojourner in the earth' (119:19). 'Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee I desire none upon earth' (73:25). 'My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever' (73:26). 'But, as for me, the nearness of God is my good' (73:28) (p. 181-182)."