A Reflection on the readings for the 17 Sunday in Ordinary Time [year C]
"Lord, teach us how to pray."
As we all know, the time immediately following brought vast and varied changes to the Church, and none of these changes was of greater import to the faithful than the vital changes in the Mass. The prayer life of
the parish was disrupted, as never before in the history of the Church.
We are guardedly taking the first steps of a wholly new liturgical movement, a movement whose principles are found in the past, but the application must meet a unique challenge of repairing a severed foundation, as well as building
In order to establish a basis for this new movement, I would like to draw your attention to the Mass as prayer. This week we hear much about prayer: From Abraham and the parable of the neighbor we learn to persevere in prayer, from the Psalm and the Gospel we learn that God hears and answers our prayers, and from the Apostles' request we learn how to pray. The Lord's Prayer, or Our Father, is more than just a simple prayer, it is the "perfect prayer" summing up all that true prayer seeks.
So what are the principles of Lord's prayer, that we may apply them to our experience of the Mass?
The Lord's prayer consists of seven petitions, in order: for the glory of God, for the coming of His reign, for the grace to do the will of God, for the grace of the Bread of the Eucharist, for the forgiveness of sin, the preservation from temptation, and for the freedom from every evil.
As the Lord's Prayer begins by seeking the glory of His name, so too should this be our first consideration caring for the Liturgy. Here, at the altar, we enter into the Kingdom. From here we go forth to do God's will throughout the earth. Here we receive our Daily bread, Christ Himself. Here we come for the forgiveness of sins, either in confession or for lesser sins in the Sacrifice itself. Here we receive the grace and strength to overcome temptation. Here, through this Sacrifice of the Cross, we have our victory over evil.
If changes come in the Mass, be it new translations or bringing back some of the neglected prayers that were steeped in the model of Christian prayer, take a moment before objecting. Look at how these changes might more fully mirror or fulfill the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. Do they exalt more clearly the Name of God? Do they give Him the glory that is due?
Do they build up the Kingdom of God? Do they instruct us in fulfilling His Will? Do they make clearer the Real Presence? That the Mass is the Sacrifice of Calvary re-presented? Do they remind us of our sin? Do they call us to repentance? Do they beg for the strength to resist temptation? Do they thank God for His great victory over evil?
Let the principles of prayer as taught by Our Lord and Savior guide you.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily Bread,
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
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Resources used:
one challenge
Readings for Sunday, July 29, 2007 (NAB)
Readings for Sunday, July 29, 2007 (RSV)
The Perfect Prayer by Fr Hardon, SJ
The Catechetical Instructions of St Thomas Aquinas, OP
I drew upon Aquinas'
I drew upon Aquinas' instruction on the Lord's Prayer, and his breakdown into the petitions.
But I do think that they are petitions, not demands, for before we present these statements only after we humble ourselves to acknowledge God's authority and praise His Name. (Our Father, who art in Heaven hallowed be Thy Name)
We then ask for the Kingdom to reign on earth, as He reigns in Heaven (Thy kingdom come,)
Then we submit our will, including our desire, including as expressed in the beginning of the prayer to His Will. (Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven)
The first part of the prayer sets a humility that would not presume to demand of God what we seek.
Heretoday, maybe the
Heretoday, maybe the difference in mindset with which the two of us see this prayer is really the difference between that of a person who has been both child and parent, and one who has to this point only been a child. I don't mean this in a derogatory sense, but in an experiential sense.
As a parent, I knew my daughter had finally achieved a certain level of independent adulthood when she felt able to deal with me as something other than my dependent supplicant. This attitude does not dishonor me, it honors me as it affirms I have somehow managed to raise her in such a way that she can stand on her own two feet by my side, contributing to our mutual goals as an equal participant.
I can acknowledge the necessity of doing His will while at the same time pointing out it would be nice to have the basic necessities to do His will, and all without putting myself down in order to somehow acknowledge His supremacy. It's hard for me to imagine a parent who would want their child to be stuck in a permanent state of dependence. I prefer at least a state of codependence. I don't see where breast beating on a continuous basis honors my Father in heaven. It seems to me that I do Him more honor by advancing spiritually so I get beyond the need to crawl.
Well, we are 'becoming as a
Well, we are 'becoming as a child' in offering our prayer to 'Our Father', 'Abba', 'Daddy'. We are not equals with God, we are not independent of Him, nor is He dependent on us. I pray I will always have the faith of a child, and not enter into the rebellious 'independence' of Satan and his minions.
Funny, no matter how much we try to be independent from God, there is still the whole cause of our existence thing...
I'm not talking about being
I'm not talking about being independent from God, I'm talking precisely about the 'cause of our existence thing..." What in the world does an all powerful omnicient God need with pathetic inherently sinful creations? This doesn't make any sense to me, unless I have a very anthropomorphic view of God the Father, and that smacks of idolatory, creating a false image of a transcendant God.
I can pray to God as father, as my brain has to have some image in which to communicate to and with the transcendant, but I also understand it's more of a necessary biological image, than a definition of transcendance.
Although I hardly think God is dependent on us, I do think He takes delight in some of the stuff his children come up with as we explore and define the reality in which we find ourselves. In that sense we make known the unknown. We are not powerless in this reality. I think Jesus tried to show us that. He also tried to show us we are more than this reality.
"I pray I will always have the faith of a child, and not enter into the rebellious 'independence' of Satan and his minions."
Actually, Satan and his minions are far more representative of a dependence on us, than they are representative of a rebellious independence from God. God never created this reality, we did.
While there are times that
While there are times that allegory is appropriate in a homily, it is overly (and poorly) used in my experience. In the case of this reflection, there is no place for an allegory, I am treating directly with the rather deep notion of prayer, in the idealized form of personal and communal prayer as taught by Christ and the changes in the public worship of God (a personal and communal prayer). Any analogy but one to the other would fit poorly here.
Allegory is a tool, not an end, and like many tools it is not essential, but useful.
I think that more people than you (and most homilists) realize agree wholeheartedly with Tolkien: "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence." Overuse of allegory gives the impression that a speaker does not believe that their audience is capable of comprehending the message directly. In this day and age, most people are educated enough that we can address many things better if we approach them directly.
Jesus spoke in Parable
Jesus spoke in Parable regularly to reach the common experience of his disciples. He taught that we should approach the Kingdom of Heaven as little children. He addressed the Father as ' Abba ' or Daddy and encourages us through the Lord's Prayer to converse with Him in that status. Accomplished story-telling is most direct. ' The Lord of the Rings ' is profoundly allegorical and reflects Tolkien's deep understanding of the roots of human experience and its religious expressions.
At agreeley.com , Fr. Andrew Greeley posts his favorite Homilies. He has acknowledged the need to fundamentally restructure his attitude toward communication of Gospel messages and presents the multi-layered effects in these teachings.
Beauty is not opposed to truth. It is simply truth in its most attractive form.
LotR is full of symbolism,
LotR is full of symbolism, but is not allegorical (as opposed to Chronicles of Narnia, which are allegory). Tolkien stated that people read allegory that is not present into LotR. (And, as much as I am a fan of LotR, if that was the most direct way of making a point, than I would hate to see how many shelves a round-about approach would take.)
In this particular example, how would you make my point (that the Lord's prayer should set the standard for our reception of liturgical movements, and for those movements themselves) through a story? How would such a story be more direct, than breaking down the Lord's prayer (the perfect prayer) and applying it to the possibility of changes in the Liturgy?
I have little stomach for Fr Greeley's writing, particularly the homilies he has posted. They are cute enough little stories, but I am of the opinion that they do not even rise to the level of allegory. They are simple morality tales at best, which amounts over time to so much fluff. The laity are capable of digesting so much more than this fluff, indeed a diet of nothing but this tends to turn the stomach and prevent growth.
If you want a good example of homiletics listen to these (first is video, second just audio): Fr. Corapi (after 9/11) or Archbishop Fulton Sheen, or take a look at what phatmass has to offer.
Serendipitously, I
Serendipitously, I happened across a tape recording of J.R.R. Tolkien reading and singing excerpts of the chants, poems and songs from the text of his Ring series. Whether he believed it or not, he had a wonderful sense of human allegory and confabulated with the muse profusely. Fulton Sheen made generous use of song , poem , painting and scuplture in his televised offerings. Both men aligned themselves with as many species of allegorical expression as they could to fully round out the experiential effect of their efforts.
The Lord's Prayer is the ultimate allegory of the mind and heart of the Father whom Jesus wants us to get to know more and more. Therefore, you have collaborated in the telling of the story. But, as my Professor of Renaissance and Reformation History would patiently repeat as he handed back my weekly topical assay for revision , ' Push harder ! ' .
One of the hallmarks of wisdom in the Armed Forces is the policy of KISS ( Keep It Simple Stupid ! ) When you try to accomplish too much at once, nothing happens. If I were to choose , 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' as the key expression of the moment , I could draw upon images of divine creation from the microscopic cell to Galactic Clusters, all focussed upon the munificence of the Creator in whose Name these effects proceed. I could cite the collaboration of men with this process from images of the American Flag flapping vigorously in the fresh breeze of opportunity to the redemption and healing of the Hope at work in the rubble of destruction in the many desperate places on the planet. Since your experience of the human condition is unique and valid you have permission to wax poetic in sharing your vision. Certain disciplines make this a very effective tool. This is one of the strong points that emanate from the televised proceedings of the Crystal Cathedral in California. I struggle with this consciously as I contend with my Scando-Germanic reserve. Strong , silent, distant and dry are major components of character that have evolved in this culture.
Greeley has consciously distilled his years of experience as a homilist with tools that profoundly transform the personality. With the collaboration of the Spirit an epiphanous resonance is shared. Cute evolves to clever, in perception, and finally to communion. To the astonishment of all, fluff becomes universally understood truth that speaks to the child that we must be like to enter the Kingdom. The Homily is anything but a Seminar, the only thing you need, to prepare for its reception, is a humble heart and an open mind.
Beauty is not opposed to truth. It is simply truth in its most attractive form.
I think that it is important
I think that it is important to be clear with our terms. All figurative language is not allegory: it may be symbolic or metaphorical without having the intentional one-to-one correlation of allegory. Nor can allegory exist outside the story.
I gather from your post you are referring, not to allegory, but to figurative language in general. Then yes, Tolkien and Archbishop Sheen use much figurative language. (btw: confabulated does not make sense in the context you used it). Nor does involving unnecessary or strained metaphors or tales fit with KISS. As I asked before, how would allegory necessarily be the most direct way to make every specific point? The fact that in this discussion your use of figurative language always seems to be tangential would belie that point, would it not.
Indeed the use of allegory to unpack symbolism in a given case (ie the Our Father and the Mass) would be insanely confused.
The reason that Greeley's homilies are fluff is that they either have no clear meaning or that they express such a universally known truth that it gives no stimulus to growth. We are to become childlike in humility and absoluteness of faith, not in ignorance.
What is perceived as cute does not become clever for many but, over time, it becomes condescending, an indicator that you cannot handle the Truth so our 'betters' must shield us from any challenges. This form clericalism, based in intellectualism, is bull.
This is a good start. It is
This is a good start. It is crucial to draw corollary examples for the practioner in the daily walk. How can the commuter apply his conscientious intent to frustrating traffic demands ? The grocery shopper with young ones in tow must have a framework for accomplishing this mission with grace and aplomb despite the random variables of chaos. The Little Leaguer who managed to get on base must now use his best judgement and the guidance of the coach in deciding whether or when to try and steal a base by wieghing personal ambition with the interests of the team effort. The allusion to the experience of the mass must have a concrete application on each of the other six days of the week for true vitue to grow.
The skills of allegory are critical to the communucation of the message.
Beauty is not opposed to truth. It is simply truth in its most attractive form.
I noticed that you
I noticed that you continually use the word 'petitions' when referring to the Lord's Prayer. I may be strange, but I don't notice any begging or pleading in the Lord's prayer. I see statements and even demands, such as 'Give us this day our daily bread', not please give us this day our daily bread.
This prayer is not about petitions or requests. When I say the part which states, "and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us", I really hope God doesn't act on that demand until I actually learn how to forgive others better than I do now.
Jesus taught us to pray as if we already had what we were praying for, and He seems to have formulated this prayer with that same expectation of fulfillment. He even demands not only that we not be led into temptation, but also delivered from evil. I think He prayed as if he meant it and wasn't going to take 'No' for an answer. This seems to me to be a quite different mindset than the typical beat your breast I'm not worthy mindset. It's a mindset that says we are worthy, and we have a right to demand a hearing as God's children.
On the other hand, we state without reservation that we honor and hallow His name, and expect His kingdom on earth to be and operate as it does in heaven. If you think about it, that's an interesting statement with all kinds of implications. I wonder what would happen if we all prayed for His Kingdom to be made manifest on earth and did it with a mindset that did not entertain no as an acceptable answer. I suspect we might find our safe little worlds all turned upside down.