What Else But Praise?

And what else shall we do there but sing his praises? What else shall we say there but, “You are my God, and I shall praise you. You are my God, and I shall exalt you. I shall praise you, Lord, because you have heard me and you have become my salvation” (Ps 117[118]: 28). We shall not say these things with noisy words, but the love that clings to him will itself cry out in this way: love itself will be that voice. And so, as this Psalm began with praise, so it ends with praise. “Praise the Lord for he is good, because his mercy is forever.” That’s how the Psalm began, and that’s how it ends, because as from the beginning we have left behind, so at the end to which we return, there is nothing that delights more fully than the praise of God, an eternal Alleluia. (EnPs 117[118], 23; PL 37, 15001501)

Rev. Joseph A. Komonchak, professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York.