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“The Lord’s Prayer”
by James Tissot, 1886-96 |
Readings
for Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings
from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and
Commentary: [3]
Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14
Brothers and sisters:
After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
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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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.
-------------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Ps
117:1bc, 2
“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] Using a refrain from St. Mark’s Gospel (Mark 16:15), the psalm is one of praise for the Good
News of God’s salvation.
-------------------------------------------------
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.”
-------------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Lk
11:1-4
The Gospel from St. Luke gives us a shorter version of how the
Lord taught 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
-------------------------------------------------
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
[1]
The picture used today is “The Lord’s Prayer” by James Tissot, 1886-96.
[2]
S.S. Commemoratio[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 republication is
not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.[4]
NAB Footnote on Psalm 117.
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