yesterday's Liturgy of the Hours

[theculturewarrior]

Yesterday's psalm prayer from the Office of Readings says "bring havoc to the madness of oppressors." What does that mean?

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' date='Sep 20 2005, 09:43 AM']Yesterday's psalm prayer from the Office of Readings says "bring havoc to the madness of oppressors." What does that mean?
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well, our oppressors are those who speak lies and act not with charity. so, we bring havoc to them by spreading truth, and love, and the light of Christ, and everything that the devil and men of darkness clamour to avoid.

[dspen2005]

just as an aside.... the placement of the psalm prayers in the English translation of the Breviary is not correct. the psalm prayer is supposed to be used after an extended period of meditation, outside of the sequence antiphon, psalm, doxology and antiphon. the other breviaries do not have them in that position... only the english translation.

[theculturewarrior]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='Sep 20 2005, 11:07 AM']well, our oppressors are those who speak lies and act not with charity. so, we bring havoc to them by spreading truth, and love, and the light of Christ, and everything that the devil and men of darkness clamour to avoid.
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It doesn't say, "bring havoc to oppressors," it says "bring havoc to the [b]madness[/b] of oppressors." Does this assume that oppressors are naturally mad, and if so, how does God bring havoc to their madness?

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' date='Sep 20 2005, 03:48 PM']It doesn't say, "bring havoc to oppressors," it says "bring havoc to the [b]madness[/b] of oppressors." Does this assume that oppressors are naturally mad, and if so, how does God bring havoc to their madness?
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well, to live in darkness, and sin, and lies is to live in madness. think about it, when you're in the dark, you can't see. your stumbling all over the place, clamouring for a foothold, your arms flailing in front of you as you search for a reference point or something to bring you balance and composure. now, think of a room full of people in total darkness. that is madness indeed.

look also at a life of sin. you heed your sexual desires b/c you long to fill the void inside, but you only end up hurting yourself and others. you rebel against authority and responsibility, you revel in your own debauchery. you are simply devouring, and hating, and hurting all things. look at the people of Sodom and Gamorrah. their sin pactically reduced them to mere animals. this too is madness.

now, enter a dark room and shine a light. what does the darkness do? it flees. darkness cannot be where light is. so, in this sense, the light brings havoc to the darkness. it disrupts the darkness and sends it fleeing. have a saint walk amongst sinner, and look what happens. they revile him, mock him, spit on him, beat him, kill him. why? b/c he brings havoc to their madness. his sanctity makes it impossible for them to ignore their sinfulness. his words of truth and authority make it impossible for them to ignore their consciences. his love destroys their hate, and they can't stand it.

so, by shining the light of Christ into the world, by living his example and preaching the Truth, we bring havoc to the madness of our oppressors.

pax christi,
phatcatholic