Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI this morning travelled by helicopter from the Papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo to the Vatican, where he held his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall.

The Holy Father was met by thousands of pilgrims for his audience this afternoon, at which he continued his series of talks on prayer, with Psalm 22.

The Psalm, which re-emerges in the narrative of Christ’s Passion, presents the figure of an innocent man persecuted and surrounded by adversaries who seek his death. He raises his voice to God ‘in a doleful lament which, in the certainty of faith, mysteriously gives way to praise.’

“The psalmist’s opening cry of ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ is an appeal addressed to a God who appears distant, who does not respond,” the Pope said. “God is silent, a silence that rends the psalmist’s heart as he continues to cry out incessantly but finds no response. Nonetheless, he calls the Lord ‘my’ God in an extreme act of trust and faith. Despite appearances, the psalmist cannot believe that his bond with the Lord has been severed entirely.”

In closing, the Pope invited the Faithful to take on board the message of the psalmist and distinguish deeper reality from outward appearance, even when God is apparently silent. “By placing all our trust and hope in God the Father, we can pray to Him with faith at all moments of anguish, and our cry for help will turn into a hymn of praise,” he said.

After the audience, the Holy Father returned to Castel Gandolfo by helicopter.