It's Not About You
Posted by DariaSockey in Faith on Thursday, March 10, 2011 10:00 AM
Some people I know just can’t get into using the Divine Office. They don’t want to pray a Psalm of mourning when they are happy. Or vice versa. They don’t like some of the more violent or vengeful language that some of the Psalms use. Or they just prefer something more simple and consistent, like the rosary.
Here are some principles for praying the Psalms that will help you get around these difficulties.
It’s not about you. This is the prayer of the universal Church. It’s your marching orders: this is what you are to pray today—make it your own. If a particular Psalm does not fit your mood, then pray it for your brothers and sisters in Christ around the world to whom it does apply. Remember, even if you are praying alone at your kitchen table, you are actually joining in a worldwide liturgical act. You’re singing as a member of a gigantic choir. It’s your job to blend with the others rather than to solo.
It’s about Jesus. Not only did Our Lord learn the Psalms as a boy, pray them in the synagogue, and quote them in his preaching, but many of them contain direct prophetic references to him. As you pray the Psalms, look for Him in them. That will make the Psalms much more interesting.
It’s about the Mystical Body of Jesus. As members of Christ’s visible body on earth, we have the privilege (during liturgical prayer) of voicing His prayer to the Father. In praying the Divine Office, our acts of praise, adoration, petition, and thanksgiving are joined with His so that our prayer is His prayer. This can only be said of the Mass and the Divine Office. It cannot be said of the Rosary or the chaplet or any of our own personal prayers. If you think through the implications of that, you will want to either get to Mass more often, start praying the Divine Office, or both.
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