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Liturgy of the Word: Responsorial Psalm Part 1.
God speaks to the people by doing
marvels from them. The people respond by celebrating those marvels. God leads
the people of the Exodus across the Red Sea. Myriam, the tambourine
player, celebrates the Lord who threw horse and rider into the sea (Exod 15 &21).
God delivers Anna from her barrenness by giving her Samuel. Anna responds by
celebrating the Lord who enables a barren woman to give birth seven times (I
Sam 2:5).
In the New Testament God blesses the virginity
of Mary by making her the mother of Jesus. Mary glorifies the Lord; she exults
in God her Saviour and in this Jesus that she carries within her.
The Word commemorates old marvels; we
as the community celebrate those deeds today and actualise them on the level of
our celebration: we respond to the God of marvels through the Responsorial
Psalm.
Notice too the structure of the
dialogue that the Lectionary establishes between the Word that comes from God,
and the word that comes to us as the community:
- Word
of God: Old Testament.
- The
community responds: (spoken/singing) Responsorial Psalm.
- Word
of God: Letters from the New Testament:
- The
community speak/sing: Gospel Acclamation.
- Word
of God: Gospel.
- The
community prays: General Intercessions (Prayers of the Faithful).
The Word proclaimed is the word
of the covenant. The psalm that responds to it is the canticle of the Covenant.
The Word prepares for the Covenant, making us enter into it. The Psalm sings
its grace, imploring God to keep us in it.
Just before his Ascension, Jesus
speaks to the apostles about what is written concerning him in ‘the Law, the
Prophets, and the Psalms’. (Lk 24:44). Therefore Jesus’ story is found in
the Psalms. Every Sunday, (weekdays too) the community is invited
to read a page of that story, to discover an aspect of the face of
Jesus.
Let us recognize His face in the Psalm
this week and RESPOND.
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