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In his October 5, 2011 audience, Benedict XVI deepens his reflection on prayer with the help of the famous Psalm 23 (22 in some Bibles), which likens God to a shepherd leading his flock.
As a preamble, the Holy Father notes that the images of shepherd and sheep evoke an atmosphere of tenderness and closeness, conducive to trust. This is all the more essential in the nomadic context of the Middle East, where flocks are herded through largely desert lands. The experience of a shepherd who knows where to find oases and "green pastures" is vital to the flock.
Like sheep, believers abandon themselves to God in complete trust, knowing that he will take care of them like the shepherd does his sheep.
Praying means placing our trust in the Lord. This surrender is especially evident at times when the powers of death threaten us. People of prayer hold on to their certainty that the Lord will not let them down, and will lead them through the "darkest valley." Prayer helps us to overcome the moments of anguish in life by strengthening our conviction that a merciful hand, comparable to the shepherd's crook, is leading us: that of the Almighty.
Like sheep, believers abandon themselves to God in complete trust, knowing that he will take care of them like the shepherd does his sheep.
Praising God's magnificence
Benedict XVI observes that, from Verse 5 onwards, a new part of the psalm deals with the Lord's generous hospitality, as he "prepares the table" for the prayerful. This second part is an opportunity for the psalmist to measure and express God's generosity and magnificence on his behalf. Food, oil, wine: God welcomes his faithful with munificence.
The psalmist's words show that praying is also about being aware of God's care for mankind, of his ever-increasing gifts, and this in difficult situations, since the Psalmist compares himself to a traveler welcomed into a hospitable tent "in the presence of my enemies."
Prayer of desire
Finally, Benedict XVI discerns in the last verse of the psalm ("I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long") an expression of the Psalmist's desire. Any prayer begun with trust and awareness of God’s gifts ends in the desire to dwell in the house of the One to whom we have entrusted our lives, just as the sheep entrust themselves to the shepherd's rod.
This psalm echoes the desire of every Israelite to return to the Temple. But this desire is also ours today: The metaphor of the Lord's house signifies our communion with him. By praying, we show God that we want to live with him, and therefore in His house, as the psalmist expresses it.
Any prayer begun with trust and awareness of God’s gifts ends in the desire to dwell in the house of the One to whom we have entrusted our lives.
Praying with Christ
Benedict XVI concludes his teaching on prayer by emphasizing that it is eminently Christological. Christ defined himself as the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11-18). What's more, he invites us to his table in the Eucharist. Lastly, he opens the Father's heavenly home to us through his Resurrection and Ascension.
So praying with the psalms is never an abstract, high-intellectual exercise, but a very concrete activity, underpinned by familiar, meaningful images— in this case those of pastoralism.
Moreover, prayer is an activity sustained by Christ's active presence in our lives — a presence to which all the psalms refer, as here with the images of the shepherd, the meal, the cup, and the house. With the example of Christ's life, the themes of trust, awareness of divine gifts, and the desire to dwell in the Lord's house become perfectly embodied realities. This makes the practice of prayer all the easier.
