Praying with the Psalms
CTS Notes on Prayer Book 2
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
Pope Francis (Preface)
ISBN 9781784698263
This is volume 2 of a new 8 volume set released for the Jubilee 2025, and the fifth I have read. All 8 volumes have the same preface from Pope Francis. Each volume is by a different author. The books were originally released in Italian, and have since been released in Europe by the CTS, and there are forthcoming edition by Our Sunday Visitor for North American Release. The original series and the CTS editions are marked as ‘Notes on Prayer’, the OSV editions the series is called ‘Exploring Prayer’. Some of the titles are different between the two editions and one even has an Americanized name for the author. My recommendation is to get the CTS editions, they are excellent. But back to this third read which is of the fourth volume.
The description of this volume states:
“Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi invites the reader to re-discover the Psalms, and in them the “immense horizon that spans our entire planet and extends across the centuries”. No matter the reason for prayer, the psalms give it voice, capturing the deepest yearnings of the human heart, and teaching it to sing to God.
“Prayer is the breath of faith; it is its most proper expression. Like a silent cry that issues from the hearts of those who believe and entrust themselves to God.” – Pope Francis
In this second of eight booklets on prayer, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi invites the reader to re-discover the Psalms, and in them the “immense horizon that spans our entire planet and extends across the centuries”. No matter the reason for prayer, the psalms give it voice, capturing the deepest yearnings of the human heart, and teaching it to sing to God.”
The chapters in this volume are:
Preface by the Pope Francis
Introduction
Prayer, Breath of the Soul
Praying with the Psalms
The Psalms, Word of God and of Humanity
A Psalter in Miniature
Psalm I: The two ways
Psalm 2: The Messiah king
Psalm 6: Heal me, Lord!
Psalm 8: Lilt le less than a god
Psalm 16 (15): The path of life beyond death
Psalm 19 (18): The light of the sun and of the Word
Psalm 22 (21): My God, why have you forsaken me?
Psalm 23 (22): The Lord is my shepherd
Psalm 29 (28): The seven thunders of a storm
Psalm 39 (38): Man who lives is like a breath
Psalms 42-43 (41-42): As the doe pants for water
Psalm 49 (48): Riches and death
Psalm 51 (50): Miserere!
Psalm 63 (62): My soul thirsts for you
Psalm 72 (71): The Messiah, king of justice
Psalm 73 (72): Beyond the crisis of faith
Psalm 84 (83): The song of the pilgrims
Psalm 87 (86); No one is a foreigner
Psalm 88 (87): 1he most anguished supplication
Psalm 90 (89): Our years, like a breath
Psalm 92 (91): The song of the elder
Psalm 98 (97): The Lord, king of the earth
Psalm 103 (102): God, tender as a father
Psalm 104 (103): Canticle of the creatures
Psalm 110 (109): The Messiah, king and priest
Psalm 117 (116): An ejaculatory prayer
Psalm 119 (118): Imposing song of the divine word
Psalm 122 (121 ): Jerusalem, city of peace
Psalm 128 (127): The song of the family
Psalm 130 (129): De profundis
Psalm 13 J (130): A child in its mother's arms
Psalm 137 (136): Ry the rivers of Babylon
Psalm 139 (138): Lord, you search me and know me
Psalm 148: The alleluia of creation
Psalm 150: The final alleluia
Conclusion
I highlighted several passages while reading this volume, many are longer passages, some of them are:
“Here, then, is the meaning of the pages of this volume: it is an invitation to enter the Jubilee Year holding in one's hands the Psalter, which is the quintessential book of the Bible meant for prayerful pause and contemplative silence.”
“Prayer, singing, the liturgy do not close us off within a sacred oasis amid incense, candles and rituals, but beckon us to go out into the community and history.”
“The ancients rightly said that praying is breathing. Here one sees how foolish it is to want to talk about a 'why.' Why do l breathe? Because otherwise I would die. So it is
with prayer.””
“For believers, however, prayer is much more and is, as we have said, necessary in order to live spiritually and even physically.”
“Prayer is not a magical act, but a choice that echoes throughout all of existence, just as the liturgy must not be restricted to the sacred oasis of Temple ritual amid songs and incense, but must radiate into the square, that is, into everyday life, into social commitments, into the contradictions of life, into decisions between good and evil, right and wrong, true and false.”
“Ours will be, therefore, first and foremost a panoramic look at the general thematic characteristics of the whole collect ion of the Psalms, in order to make possible their recovery and re-actualisation in the prayer and life of the Christian, especially at an intense and powerful time like that of Jubilee.”
“The Psalms, then, throw themselves wide open to human existence, to mourning and celebration, to politics and intimate affect ions; the noise of the streets and cities fades, but it does not disappear as if we had come to a silent hermitage where al l is still and all is forgotten. These texts, which embrace a span of almost a thousand years of Israel 's history, arc a model not only of prayer, but also of life.”
“The itineraries of prayer that the Psalms offer are therefore linked to the human journey, to our times and to those stretches of human history which we must travel and in which we must discover the presence of God-Emmanuel. Let us try, then, to follow their main trails.”
“In prayer, the believer's social experience is also illuminated, while maintaining its autonomy, reality and specific characteristics. The man who encounters God is not a disembodied being, but a creature placed on the earth "to work it and keep it" (Gen 2: 15). He therefore comes to God with his knowledge and intelligence.”
“Biblical Revelation is, in fact, dialogic: the Word of God is interwoven with the human word, and their encounter is placed under the seal of inspiration. It is therefore natural that the Psalms should be a manifestation of this embrace between God and the worshipper, who are the two protagonists. They are bound together by a relationship of love and faithfulness, expressed above all with the Hebrew term hesed, which resonates a hundred times in the Psalter and which generates an intimacy between God and His faithful.”
“To each of the Psalms we will dedicate only a minimal interpretation, a sort of spotlight that will reveal the theme for further discovery and exploration in meditative reading at length. So now it is essential to 1.1ke Bible in hand and open it to the section dedicated To the Psalms, so as to be able read the texts that will be presented in turn (the liturgical numbering of the psalm it indicated in parentheses).”
“Here ends our brief journey into the pages of the Psalter, which has become the book of Christian prayer par excellence, as attested by the Liturgy of the Hours, the responsorial psalms of the Liturgy of the Word and the many antiphons woven from psalmic texts.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for this volume. There were many things in this volume that caught my attention. This was a more academic presentation than three of the other four volumes I have read in the series so far. There was much that caused me to slow down and take note in this work. It is a volume I will reread again. For a little volume it packs a great deal of excellent information. While working through this volume I used the The Psalms Grail Translation edited by Dom Henry Wansbrough OSB part of the CTS Scriptures series. The next time I read it I will use the ESV English Standard Version that will become the lectionary edition in England, Wales, and Scotland beginning Advent in 2024.
When I was in university, I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, there was a series of booklets by the founder Bill Bright, called Transferable Concepts, and by reading them many times you could almost memorize them and the message so that you could share it. This volume reminds me a lot of those books, but specifically geared for Catholics; and specifically on Prayer for the Jubilee year in 2025. I am planning on jumping around and not reading them in order my first time through, but already have plans to reread them again this year between Christmas and New Years and that time I will read them in order.
The description of the series on the CTS site states:
“The “Notes on Prayer” series is an inspiring collection of eight booklets from the Vatican, designed to deepen and enrich the prayer lives of Catholics as they journey through the Year of Jubilee 2025, themed “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Each booklet in this series is a powerful resource, offering spiritual guidance, reflections, and wisdom from Church teachings, Sacred Scripture, and the lives of the saints. Whether you’re seeking personal renewal or walking the path of forgiveness and reconciliation, this series will help you grow in intimacy with God during this special time of grace.”
The first five books in this series I have great to read, if the other three are as good as those five; we have over 700 pages of instruction on prayer. Being over half way through the series I can state that so far they are great reads. It is an excellent collection; these books would be good for any school, home, or church library. I can easily recommend this book and series and encourage you to give them a read!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.
Notes on Prayer Series:
1. Prayer Today: A Challenge to Overcome - Cardinal Angelo Comastri
2. Praying with the Psalms - Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
3. The Prayer of Jesus – Juan Lopez Vergara
4. Praying with Saints and Sinners - Fr Paul Brendan Murray, OP
5. The Parables of Prayer – Msgr Antonio Pitta
6. The Church in Prayer - Carthusian Monks
7. The Prayer of Mary and the Saints Who Met Her - Sr Catherine Aubin, OP
8. The Prayer Jesus Taught Us: Our Father - Fr Ugo Vanni
…
Original Italian Editions
CTS Editions English
OSV English Editions
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