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| “The Lord’s Prayer” by James Tissot, 1886-96 |
Reading 1:
Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14
Brothers and sisters:
After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem
taking Titus along also.
I went up in accord with a revelation,
and I presented to them the Gospel that I preach to the Gentiles–
but privately to those of repute–
so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.
On the contrary,
when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the
uncircumcised,
just as Peter to the circumcised,
for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the
circumcised
worked also in me for the Gentiles,
and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me,
James and Cephas and John,
who were reputed to be pillars,
gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership,
that we should go to the Gentiles
and they to the circumcised.
Only, we were to be mindful of the poor,
which is the very thing I was eager to do.
And when Cephas came to Antioch
I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.
For, until some people came from James,
he used to eat with the Gentiles;
but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself,
because he was afraid of the circumcised.
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him,
with the result that even Barnabas
was carried away by their hypocrisy.
But when I saw that they were not on the right road
in line with the truth of the Gospel,
I said to Cephas in front of all,
“If you, though a Jew,
are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew,
how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
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Commentary on
Gal 2:1-2, 7-14
In this passage from the Letter
to the Galatians, St. Paul relates the events of his second trip to Jerusalem,
also referred to in Acts 15:1-12. It is
clear from these accounts that the reason for the trip was to resolve any
differences between the rules applied to Jewish Christians and those applied to
Gentile Christians, especially the rule concerning circumcision. Taking with
him two Gentile Christians, Barnabas (who later founded the churches of Crete)
and Titus (who became a missionary also) the evangelist describes how he met
with the “pillars” (styloi) of the Mother Church of Jerusalem.
St. Paul goes on to relate how
St. James (the head of the church in Jerusalem), St. Peter (leader of the
Apostles), and St. John (son of Zebedee) all agreed, first that his message was
consistent with the Gospel St. Paul had received from Christ and taught to the
“uncircumcised,” and second accepted it without changes. They further agreed
that the mission of the twelve was to the Jews, and St. Paul’s mission was to
the Gentiles, although this should be seen as a geographical division since St.
Paul frequently began his evangelization in a region by speaking first to the
Jews. (See also Romans 15:17-19.) The
symbolism of: “…their right hands in partnership” establishes St. Paul
on an equal footing with the Apostles.
The second part of the reading
deals with St. Peter traveling to Antioch. Arriving alone, he adopted St.
Paul’s manners of eating communally with the Gentiles. However, when a
delegation from Jerusalem arrived (presumably from St. James), he seemed to
revert to separating himself from them, and ritually observing the dietary laws
of Judaism. St. Paul confronted him on this point (again emphasizing his
equality with St. Peter), and seals a breach in the unity of Christians regardless
of their ancestry – Jew or Gentile. All were one in Christ.
CCC: Gal 2:10 886
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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 117:1bc, 2
R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world, and tell the Good
News.
Praise the Lord, all you nations,
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to
all the world, and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.
R. Go out to
all the world, and tell the Good News.
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Commentary on
Ps 117:1bc, 2
Using a refrain from St. Mark’s Gospel, the psalm is one of praise
for the Good News of God’s salvation. “This
shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God's supremacy. The
supremacy of Israel's God has been demonstrated to them by the people's secure
existence, which is owed entirely to God's gracious fidelity.”[4]
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Gospel:
Luke 11:1-4
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
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Commentary on
Lk 11:1-4
The Gospel from St. Luke gives us
a shorter version of how the Lord passed on the “Lord’s Prayer” to his
disciples. In St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6:9-15) this
discourse takes place as part of the Sermon on the Mount. In St. Luke’s Gospel
it is given while the Lord is himself at prayer.
Notes on the meaning of the
various parts of the prayer are numerous. (See also CCC 2759 - 2865) The
short message in the Gospel is: “This is an appropriate way to speak to God.”
The seven petitions of the prayer begin with an acknowledgement of God’s
existence and omnipotence, praising his holiness. It continues with our further
desire that the “will of God,” which creates his Heavenly Kingdom, may
also rule on earth (...your name; your
kingdom; your will).
The next three petitions ask for
grace and protection. The first of these is a petition to the Father that we be
given nourishment, food for the body and (Eucharistic) food for the spirit, ”our
daily bread.” This petition is followed by a plea for forgiveness, a tacit
admission that we have all sinned and all need God’s salvation. The second part
of this petition is a promise that we will attempt to follow Christ’s example,
forgiving others as we have been forgiven. The prayer concludes with a final
petition that we not be tested as our Lord was tested by the evil one;
encouraged to forego his own passion thus condemning the world to sin and
death.
CCC: Lk 11:1 520, 2601, 2759, 2773; Lk
11:2-4 2759; Lk 11:2 2632; Lk 11:4 1425, 2845
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Reflection:
We
ask a question today – what is prayer?
It sounds simple, and the short answer is simple: prayer is conversing
with God (actually there are three major types of prayer: vocal, meditative,
and contemplative- CCC 2700-2719). But we must go deeper. Saying that prayer is simply speaking with
God is like saying that speaking to another person is communicating. That latter saying is not necessarily
true. Ask any married couple if they are
communicating when they speak to one another. They will tell you: not
necessarily.
The
disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, and the Lord gives them this very
simple template that we call the “Our Father.”
It begins with our fervent pledge of faith, recognition on our part that
God truly exists and is Lord over all that is and will be. It also, by default, stipulates our belief in
his eternal guidance, and in life after death.
That very first statement: “Our Father, who art in Heaven,” states a
core understanding of our faith. When we
say the “Our Father,” do we hear that pledge in our hearts?
The
Lord next tells us to support God’s will, establishing God’s Kingdom on
earth. Do we hear ourselves pledge to be
God’s instruments, carrying out God’s mission on earth? Certainly, as he was speaking to his
disciples, they understood what was being pledged.
The
prayer he gave us concludes by asking God for all we need to lead a life full
of his peace. First “our daily bread,”
we ask that God assist us in harvesting, from all he has created, what we need
to sustain ourselves physically. We also
pray for that which sustains us spiritually, the source and well-spring of
Christ’s peace, the Bread of Life that brings us into physical contact with his
sacred self.
Knowing
we are not perfect, and recognizing that all who seek God’s face will be forced
to see their own failings, Jesus next bids us to ask forgiveness from the only
one who can forgive sins. He does so
while reminding us that, as he has done, so we must do. Recalling the parable of the unworthy servant
who, even though his master forgave him, did not forgive his fellow servants,
we are called to forgive those who have harmed us.
Finally,
we are reminded that the price of our forgiveness was very high, costing the
Son of God his human life. We earnestly
beg the Lord that we not be forced to be put to the test of our convictions
with our own lives at stake. When we
conclude: “deliver us from evil,” do we send up our fervent prayer to our
deliverer?
What
a simple little prayer, the “Our Father,” yet, one which we will work a
lifetime to pray as he taught it.
Perhaps that is why we repeat it so often.
Pax
[2]
The picture used today is “The Lord’s Prayer” by James Tissot, 1886-96
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB Footnote on Psalm 117
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