Posted on 01/19/2006 5:22:39 PM PST by NYer
ROME, JAN. 19, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Prominent figures from the city's Catholic and Jewish community met Tuesday at the Lateran University to mark Italy's 17th annual Day of Study and Dialogue between the two faiths.
The conference has been organized since 1990 by the Vicariate of Rome and its Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue. One of the commission members is Sister Lucy Thorson of the order of Our Lady of Sion.
She gave me a list of initiatives linked to Tuesday's observance. The activities comprise 10 days of study and celebrations including parish and school visits to Rome's synagogue.
Sister Thorson, who works at the Gregorian University's Cardinal Bea Center for Judaic Studies, says anything that assists the two faiths in knowing and understanding each other better is a necessity. She noted "the common roots we have in Judaism, and it's our relationship to the Jewish people which constitutes really an essential element in the unity of the people of God."
Sister Thorson continued: "We share the Hebrew Scriptures in the Old Testament with our Jewish sisters and brothers and therefore there are many values that come out of the common Scriptures, whether it's respect or the recognition of the dignity of every single person -- there are many common values that we have."
"That's why it's noteworthy," she continued, that both the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, and the Franciscan Custodian of the Holy Land, Father Pier Battista Pizzaballa, "agreed to reflect on the theme of the Ten Commandments which is an evident part of the common patrimony and common responsibility of both Christians and Jews."
The growth is mutual on such occasions, as one rabbi told me.
Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, a professor of prayer and liturgy at the Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem campus, and at the Schechter Rabbinic Seminary, explained how he draws much from contemplating passages in the New Testament and even Catholic worship practices to discover more about liturgical elements of his own faith.
He agrees with Sister Thorson about the shared inheritance of the Old Testament scriptures and enjoys the occasions in Rome when he can hear the Pope's reflections on them during the general audiences.
"Psalms are part of the shared liturgy of Jews and Christians," he said. "It's just that we Jews get to pray them in Hebrew, the language that Jesus prayed the psalms in. …They are very much a part of the everyday liturgical life of the praying Jew, especially the morning service … there's a whole section that is mostly psalms."
At the heart of the discussion and shared time of mediation and prayer between Christians and Jews is the goal of peace as Benedict XVI repeated in his audience with Rabbi Di Segni last Monday.
Rabbi Kelman added that he has personally discovered much in the way of peace-building methodology from Christianity. He is "conscious how Christians have taken the idea of forgiveness into a whole myriad of places that Judaism never imagined."
"One of the problems in the Middle East is the inability of Palestinians and Israelis to forgive each other with each side blaming the other side," the rabbi said. "And I think that until we can conceive of the power of this forgiveness Christianity promotes at a human level, even surrounding the most horrible things … well, it'll be hard to imagine a peaceful political resolution."
As most of us realize, the Church began in the East. Our Lord lived and died and resurrected in the Holy Land. The Church spread from Jerusalem throughout the known world. As the Church spread, it encountered different cultures and adapted, retaining from each culture what was consistent with the Gospel. In the city of Alexandria, the Church became very Egyptian; in Antioch it remained very Jewish; in Rome it took on an Italian appearance and in the Constantinople it took on the trappings of the Roman imperial court. All the churches which developed this way were Eastern, except Rome. Most Catholics in the United States have their roots in Western Europe where the Roman rite predominated. It has been said that the Eastern Catholic Churches are "the best kept secret in the Catholic Church."
Many people forget - or do not realize - that Christianity came from Judaism. As the church expanded beyond the realm of Judaism, it adapted itself to the people and cultures in which it took root. This cultural adaptation resulted in the 22 different rites of the Catholic Church today.
It is from Jewish roots that the church of Antioch sprung. In fact, the church of Antioch was founded by St. Peter and it was there that the terms "Christian" and "Catholic" were first used. The first Christians were Jews and entire communities came to accept Jesus as the Messiah. Evidence from archaeological studies of Maronite church buildings show that they had earlier been synagogues.
To this day, the Maronite Church retains its Jewish roots more than any other Catholic rite, as evidenced by its use of Aramaic/Syriac and by the prayers which remain faithful to Semantic and Old Testament forms.
This is evidenced by The Maronite Church maintaining the Jewish tradition of beginning worship at sundown with Ramsho prayers followed by Safro at sunrise. These comprise the Maronite Divine Office and include many Psalms from the Old Testament.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of Maronite liturgical worship, is the retention of Aramaic, the everyday language spoken by Jesus, His disciples and His mother. The Consecration is in Aramaic as are certain prayers including one of the oldest - the Trisagion - known as the 'Qadeeshat'. Western catholics recognize this prayer in the Divine Mercy Chaplet - "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One - have mercy on us".
beautiful!
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It's quite an inspiring article. It reminds me that I might be devoting more time more often to reading and contemplating upon the beautiful Psalms.
It's quite an inspiring article. It reminds me that I might be devoting more time more often to reading and contemplating upon the beautiful Psalms.
The Holy Father often uses his Wednesday General Audience to provide a commentary on a particular psalm. Here is an examle from his Wednesday Jan. 11 audience. Freeper ELS usually posts the Wednesday audience commentaries to the forum.
Date: 2006-01-11
Commentary on Psalm 143(144):1-8
"Lord, What Is Man That You Care for Him?"
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 11, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave during today's general audience. He dedicated his address to comment on Psalm 143(144):1-8.
* * *
1. Our journey through the Psalter used by the Liturgy of Vespers now brings us to a royal hymn, Psalm 143(144), of which the first part was proclaimed: In fact, the liturgy proposes this hymn dividing it in two sections.
The first part (cf. verses 1 to 8) reveals clearly the literary characteristic of this composition: The psalmist uses quotations from other texts of the Psalms, articulated in a new hymn and prayer.
Given that the psalm belongs to a later period, it is easy to imagine that the king who is exalted no longer has the features of the Davidic sovereign, since Jewish royalty ended with the Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C., but rather those of the luminous and glorious figure of the Messiah, whose victory is no longer a martial-political event, but an intervention of liberation against evil. The "messiah," Greek word that indicated the "anointed one," is replaced by the "Messiah" par excellence, who in Christian literature has the face of Jesus Christ, "the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1).
2. The hymn begins with a blessing, that is, with an exclamation of praise addressed to the Lord, celebrated with a little litany of salvific titles: He is the sure and stable rock, he is loving grace, he is the protected fortress, the refuge of defense, liberation, the shield that forestalls every evil assault (cf. Psalm 143[144]:1-2). Also appearing is the martial image of God who trains his faithful in the struggle so that he will be able to face the hostilities of the environment, the dark powers of the world.
Despite his royal dignity, before the Almighty Lord, the psalmist feels weak and fragile. Then he expresses a profession of humility that is formulated, as he already said, with the words of Psalms 8 and 38. He feels like "a breath," like "a passing shadow," inconsistent, submerged in the flux of time that passes, marked by the limitation proper to the creature (cf. Psalm 143[114]:4).
3. The question then arises: Why is God concerned about this very miserable and decrepit creature? To this question (cf. verse 3) the grandiose divine apparition responds, the so-called theophany that is accompanied by a procession of cosmic elements and historical events, oriented to celebrate the transcendence of the supreme King of being, of the universe and of history.
Thus, mention is made of mountains that spew forth smoke with volcanic eruptions (cf. verse 5), of flashes of lightning that seem like arrows flung against evildoers (cf. verse 6), of "many" oceanic "waters," symbol of the chaos from which the king is saved by the power of the same divine hand (cf. verse 7). In the background are the foreign foes who "speak untruth" and whose "[right hands are raised in lying oaths]" (cf. verses 7-8), a concrete representation, according to the Semitic style, of idolatry, moral perversion, of the evil that is truly opposed to God and to his faithful.
4. In our meditation, we now pause for a moment on the profession of humility expressed by the psalmist and we will make use of Origen's words, whose commentary on our text has come to us through St. Jerome's Latin version. "The psalmist speaks of the fragility of the body and of the human condition," as in virtue of the human condition, man is nothing. "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity," says Ecclesiastes. The question again arises of wonder and thanksgiving: "'Lord, what is man that you care for him? … It is a great happiness for man to know his own Creator. In this we are distinguished from beasts and other animals, as we know we have a Creator, while they do not know it."
It is worthwhile to meditate for a moment on these words of Origen, who sees the fundamental difference between man and the rest of animals in the fact that man is able to know God, his Creator, in the fact that man is capable of truth, of a knowledge that becomes a relationship, a friendship. In our time, it is important that we not forget God, along with the other knowledge that we have acquired in the meantime, which is so much! Such knowledge becomes problematic -- what is more, dangerous -- if the fundamental knowledge is lacking that gives meaning and orientation to everything, if knowledge of God the Creator is lacking.
Let us return to Origen. He says: "You will not be able to save this misery, which is man, if you yourself do not carry him on your shoulders. 'Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down.' Your abandoned sheep will not be able to cure itself if you do not carry it on your shoulders. … These words are addressed to the Son: 'Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down.' … You have come down, you have bowed the heavens and you have stretched out your hand from on high, and you have deigned to carry the flesh of man on your shoulders, and many believed in you" (Origen-Jerome, "74 Omelie sul Libro dei Salmi," Milan, 1993, pp. 512-515).
For us Christians, God is no longer, as in the philosophy prior to Christianity, a theory but a reality, as God has "bowed the heavens and come down." He himself is heaven, and has come down among us. With reason, Origen sees in the parable of the lost sheep, which the shepherd carries on his shoulders, the parable of the Incarnation of God. If, in the Incarnation, he has come down and has carried our flesh on his shoulders, he has carried us on his shoulders. In this way, the knowledge of God has become a reality, it has become friendship, communion. We give thanks to the Lord, as "he has bowed his heaven and come down," has carried our flesh on his shoulders and leads us on the paths of our life.
The psalm, which begins with the discovery that we are weak and removed from the divine splendor, at the end comes to this great surprise of the divine action: With us is the God-Emmanuel, which for Christianity has the loving face of Jesus Christ, God made man, made one of us.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[At the end of the audience, the Pope greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today's catechesis centers on Psalm 143, which takes the form of a King's prayer for victory and peace. It opens with praises to God, expressed through a litany of salvific titles recalling the Lord as a fortress, a shield and a place of refuge.
Notwithstanding his royal dignity, the King feels his weaknesses and fragility, and recognizes his life as one that "fades like a shadow." In humility he ponders: Lord, what is man that you care for him? His questioning evokes a plethora of images of divine interventions, while illustrating how the transcendence of the supreme King of the Universe saves mankind from idolatry, moral perversion and evil.
Reflecting on this psalm, Origen draws to our attention the great happiness we gain through knowing our Creator. Indeed, it is this knowledge which distinguishes us from other creatures. God -- Emmanuel is with us! Let us rejoice in our privilege to recognize the Lord and to encounter his loving face!
I extend a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here today, including groups from Finland, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your loved ones at home, I invoke the joy and peace of Christ our Lord!
I wish to offer my heartfelt greetings to the students and teachers of the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in Switzerland. I hope that your visit to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, together with your meetings, will be a stimulus to strengthen your commitment to the vital task of promotion of unity among Christians.
Thanks so much for that. I look forward to the weeks ahead.
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