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Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon
Editor: Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Communications
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Praying the Psalms: a human voice
for every human experience
By Kiply Lukan Yaworski
The psalms have a human voice,
evoking the reality of the human
condition and echoing with truth for our
daily lives, facilitator Gisele Bauche
said at the first session of a new fourpart Foundations: Exploring Our Faith
series Sept. 27, 2010 in Saskatoon.
“The psalms touch the core of our
being,” said Bauche, after opening the
series entitled Praying the Psalms with
the powerful words of Psalm 23 (The
Lord is my shepherd). “This is there as
a comfort, it is there as strength: to
know that God is there with us, he
walks by us.”
Gisele Bauche is the facilitator for Praying the Psalms, a
Foundaitons series in the diocese of Saskatoon.
The book of psalms forms the “heart of
the bible,” Bauche said, both in its
location at the bible’s centre, and in its over-arching content. “The psalms pulse with
information, they pulse with the prophet’s voice. They pulse with wisdom, direction and
guidance; they pulse with thanksgiving and praise; they pulse with lament. It’s all here.”
About two thirds of the 150 psalms are laments, expressing the complaints, struggles and
darkness of the human condition, she said, noting the tone can be blunt. “The psalms speak
with the voice of humanity: they speak our voice. They are our voice and they tell it like it is.
They don’t mince words.”
Summarizing the Old Testament and written as part of the Hebrew scriptures, the Psalms are
also Christological, pointing to and revealing Christ, Bauche said. “They speak of Christ
Jesus: the psalms announce the Messiah, are oriented towards Jesus and they unfold the
revelation of who he is. The psalms prophesy his coming and they find in Christ alone their
fulfillment,” she said.
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“In a way, the psalms could be called a point of syntheses, where
all times and all the ideas of the Bible can come together and are expressed in love and
thanksgiving”
The psalms also speak directly to our daily lives, struggles and ongoing transformation,
Bauche said.
She presented Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann’s explanation of three main
themes in the psalms: orientation, disorientation, and new orientation, and discussed the
movement between these realities, both in our lives and in the psalms.
Human beings continually move through these three dispositions in a reflection of the paschal
mystery of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Bauche explained, using Psalm 30
as an example.
When we are in a place of “orientation”, all is well and everything makes sense in our lives,
Bauche described, citing Psalm 30: “I said to myself in my good fortune, ‘Nothing will ever
disturb me.’ Your favor had set me on a mountain fastness.”
However, when changes, circumstances or events inevitably come upon us, we can be
thrown into a place of “disorientation,” in which we feel we have sunk “into the pit” – a difficult
and dark place that challenges our view of God and the world, she said. The movement is
also experienced in Psalm 30: “Then you hid your face and I was put in confusion. To you
Lord I cried.”
Bauche related how the source of such “disorientation” might be an event such as a car
accident, an illness, or a marriage break-up; or it might come about as a result of some
internal struggle or self-deception. “We don’t want the situation, but it’s there,” she said,
describing the challenges of moving forward when something has “turned our world upside
down.”
In this experience of disorientation there might be anger, bitterness, anxiety, blame and grief,
but there also can be a new way of “knowing that God walks with you, a God acquainted with
sorrow,” Bauche added, saying all of these emotions and insights are reflected in the psalms
– both individually and as a group of 150 prayer songs to the Lord.
From disorientation, there is the possibility of moving toward a “new orientation,” a different
place of new understandings and transformation, she said. This new place is also expressed
in Psalm 30: “The Lord came to my help. For me you have changed my mourning into
dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. So my soul sings psalms to you
unceasingly. O Lord my God, I will thank you forever.”
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In this “new orientation” we are in a place full of gratitude and
deeper awareness about ourselves, about God and his grace at
work in our lives, she described.
“There is a moment when things have changed. There is a
deliverance, a saving, a movement,” Bauche said, drawing
connections with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “The great story of our life is
about the paschal mystery,” she said, stressing that this movement from orientation to
disorientation to new orientation never ends, but continually spirals through life, in moments
large and small, giving meaning that is reflected and expressed in the psalms.
“We’re living it through the psalms: it’s new life that bears the death and resurrection. It’s new
transformation, it’s new birth, it’s resurrected life.”
It is not that we trust in God to ensure that none of our fears will happen, said Bauche.
“Here’s the reality: fear not, the things that you are afraid of will quite likely happen to you, but
they are nothing to be afraid of, because God is with you. He says: ‘I am with you, I give my
love to you, unconditionally, I love you.’”
Bauche encouraged her listeners to reflect on how their life experience is reflected in the
psalms, and how they see God reflected in the three realities of orientation, disorientation and
new orientation.
“The psalms are meant to move us, they are meant to change us, they are meant to
strengthen us, they are meant to be a sounding rock for us.”
An artist and educator, Bauche teaches and facilitates workshops and retreats in the areas of
scripture, spirituality, prayer, art and wellness.
The diocesan series “Praying the Psalms” will continue 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1 at St.
Paul’s Cathedral hall, with a reflection on psalms in difficult times; 7:30 Monday, Nov. 22, with
a reflection on Psalm 77; and 7:30 Monday Dec. 6 with a reflection on psalms of praise and
thanksgiving.
All are welcome. There is no registration required. Free will offering at the door.
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