Vatican City, Jun 1, 2004 / 22:00 pm
In this morning’s weekly general audience in the presence of 13,000 faithful at St. Peter’s Square, the Pope reflected on Psalm 40, which teaches us to overcome superficiality, vanity and sin, and trust in God’s saving mercy.
John Paul II opened his reflection on Psalm 40, "The prayer of a sick man," by pointing out that Jesus quotes this Psalm on Holy Thursday in the Cenacle to show his deep sadness at the moment of betrayal by Judas: "He who breaks bread with me has raised his heel against me."
These words, he said, express "the supplication of a man who is sick and abandoned by his friends."
"A sick man starts his talk asking pardon of God, according to the traditional Old Testament concept that for every pain there was a corresponding fault. ... Even if this is a vision overcome by Christ, the final Revealer, suffering in itself can conceal a secret value and become a path to purification, to inner freedom, to enrichment of the soul,” said the Pope.