Reflection on Psalms in the Liturgy

When we pray the Psalms, we are praying with the words of God himself. Father David Friel reflects that by praying the Psalms we learn how to speak to God and how to listen to him. Some Psalms are over 3,000 years old, and when we pray them, we connect ourselves to the entire Body of Christ, to our Jewish brothers and sisters, and to all our ancestors of the faith across time. For these reasons and more, the liturgy is overflowing with the Psalms. Reflect on this with Father Friel in today’s Bible Novena reflection video. Father Friel is a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, currently in graduate studies at The Catholic University of America.

We invite you to prayerfully ponder these reflection questions:

1. Like other Jewish males of his time, Jesus memorized and prayed regularly with the Psalms. As you pray with the Psalms, reflect on the fact that you are praying with the same Psalms with which Jesus prayed.
2. The Psalms express virtually every human emotion. As Father Friel said, when you pray a Psalm at Mass or in the Divine Office that doesn’t express where you are individually at that time, it is an opportunity to remember that someone somewhere is in that place. When we experience this, how can we pray for our brothers and sisters who are in the emotional place expressed by the Psalm?
3. St. Ambrose described the Psalms as “a gymnasium for the soul.” Praying the Psalms helps us to build and even discover our spiritual muscles. How can you make time to pray with the Psalms intentionally this week?