Posted on 10/11/2014 7:59:09 PM PDT by Salvation
"Adoration of the Lamb" (1425-29) by Jan van Eyck (WikiArt.org)
A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, October 12, 2014 | Carl E. Olson
Readings:
• Isa 25:6-10a
• Psa 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
• Phil 4:12-14, 19-20
• Matt 22:1-14
It is impossible to overstate the importance of marriage as both an institution and a metaphor in the Bible. Marriage is depicted as a sacred bond in which a man and woman enter into a covenantal, nuptial bond and the “two of them become one body” (Gen 2:24). The relationship between God and his people is often depicted as a marriage, especially in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, “Seeing God's covenant with Israel in the image of exclusive and faithful married love, the prophets prepared the Chosen People's conscience for a deepened understanding of the unity and indissolubility of marriage” (par 1611).
Many of the prophets—especially Isaiah and Ezekiel—wrote of a future time when God would finally free his people from oppression and suffering, and culminate his covenantal love in a joyful marriage feast. Today’s Old Testament reading is from a section known as “the apocalypse of Isaiah” (Isa 24-27), which describes the coming of God to destroy the enemies of his people and deliver, once and for all, Israel from the forces of evil. Isaiah described a “feast of rich food and choice wines” on Mount Zion in which “all peoples” partake; nations are united and all sorrow has ceased. This is the same wedding feast described by John the Revelator in his Apocalypse: “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready (Rev 19:7ff).
However, in between the Old Testament prophecies and the future fulfillment there is the here and now. Yes, the kingdom is here, but has not yet been fulfilled and completed; the King has come, but has yet to come again in glory for all the world to see and acknowledge as King of kings (Rev 19:11-21).
The kingdom, Jesus told the chief priests and elders, is like a king who “gave a wedding feast for his son.” This invitation was not just a matter of social interest for Jews, but of immense responsibility. Those invited to such a marriage feast made certain their calendar was clear and that they attended. Failure to do so was not just a grave insult, but grounds for severe punishment. It was common for two invitations to be sent: the first to let guests know of the approaching marriage; the second on the cusp of the celebration, which would usually last a full week.
The guests in the parable, however, were indifferent or, even worse, hostile to the servants delivering the invitation. Those who were indifferent, wrote St. Gregory the Great, were caught up in worldly activities. “One person is concerned with earthly toil”, he wrote, “another devoted to the business of this world. Neither takes notice of the mystery of the Lord’s incarnation.” And, he adds, “They are unwilling to live in accordance with it.” The first guests are the people of Israel, blessed with the witness of the prophets, yet mostly unmoved by their message, if not openly antagonistic to it. The angry king—who is, of course, God—destroyed their city, a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70.
The invitation to the marriage feast is then extended to whomever the servants can find, a reference to the apostles preaching to the Gentiles. The new Israel, the Church, is aptly described as containing “bad and good alike”. But those who think all goes well at this point are in for a surprise. The king angrily questions a guest who is without a “wedding garment”, and then casts the speechless man into “the darkness outside”. Indifference, again, is a problem, but the deeper issue is that of unworthiness.
Many are called, but it is those who are faithful, filled with charity, “holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:27; cf Matt 7:21), who are chosen. The marriage supper of the Lamb awaits, but we must be clothed with “righteous deeds” (Rev 9:8).
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the October 9, 2011, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)
Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 22 |
|||
1. | AND Jesus answering, spoke again in parables to them, saying: | Et respondens Jesus, dixit iterum in parabolis eis, dicens : | και αποκριθεις ο ιησους παλιν ειπεν αυτοις εν παραβολαις λεγων |
2. | The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. | Simile factum est regnum cælorum homini regi, qui fecit nuptias filio suo. | ωμοιωθη η βασιλεια των ουρανων ανθρωπω βασιλει οστις εποιησεν γαμους τω υιω αυτου |
3. | And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come. | Et misit servos suos vocare invitatos ad nuptias, et nolebant venire. | και απεστειλεν τους δουλους αυτου καλεσαι τους κεκλημενους εις τους γαμους και ουκ ηθελον ελθειν |
4. | Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage. | Iterum misit alios servos, dicens : Dicite invitatis : Ecce prandium meum paravi, tauri mei et altilia occisa sunt, et omnia parata : venite ad nuptias. | παλιν απεστειλεν αλλους δουλους λεγων ειπατε τοις κεκλημενοις ιδου το αριστον μου ητοιμασα οι ταυροι μου και τα σιτιστα τεθυμενα και παντα ετοιμα δευτε εις τους γαμους |
5. | But they neglected, and went their own ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. | Illi autem neglexerunt : et abierunt, alius in villam suam, alius vero ad negotiationem suam : | οι δε αμελησαντες απηλθον ο μεν εις τον ιδιον αγρον ο δε εις την εμποριαν αυτου |
6. | And the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. | reliqui vero tenuerunt servos ejus, et contumeliis affectos occiderunt. | οι δε λοιποι κρατησαντες τους δουλους αυτου υβρισαν και απεκτειναν |
7. | But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. | Rex autem cum audisset, iratus est : et missis exercitibus suis, perdidit homicidas illos, et civitatem illorum succendit. | και ακουσας ο βασιλευς εκεινος ωργισθη και πεμψας τα στρατευματα αυτου απωλεσεν τους φονεις εκεινους και την πολιν αυτων ενεπρησεν |
8. | Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. | Tunc ait servis suis : Nuptiæ quidem paratæ sunt, sed qui invitati erant, non fuerunt digni : | τοτε λεγει τοις δουλοις αυτου ο μεν γαμος ετοιμος εστιν οι δε κεκλημενοι ουκ ησαν αξιοι |
9. | Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage. | ite ergo ad exitus viarum, et quoscumque inveneritis, vocate ad nuptias. | πορευεσθε ουν επι τας διεξοδους των οδων και οσους αν ευρητε καλεσατε εις τους γαμους |
10. | And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the marriage was filled with guests. | Et egressi servi ejus in vias, congregaverunt omnes quos invenerunt, malos et bonos : et impletæ sunt nuptiæ discumbentium. | και εξελθοντες οι δουλοι εκεινοι εις τας οδους συνηγαγον παντας οσους ευρον πονηρους τε και αγαθους και επλησθη ο γαμος ανακειμενων |
11. | And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. | Intravit autem rex ut viderent discumbentes, et vidit ibi hominem non vestitum veste nuptiali. | εισελθων δε ο βασιλευς θεασασθαι τους ανακειμενους ειδεν εκει ανθρωπον ουκ ενδεδυμενον ενδυμα γαμου |
12. | And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. | Et ait illi : Amice, quomodo huc intrasti non habens vestem nuptialem ? At ille obmutavit. | και λεγει αυτω εταιρε πως εισηλθες ωδε μη εχων ενδυμα γαμου ο δε εφιμωθη |
13. | Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. | Tunc dicit rex ministris : Ligatis manibus et pedibus ejus, mittite eum in tenebras exteriores : ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium. | τοτε ειπεν ο βασιλευς τοις διακονοις δησαντες αυτου ποδας και χειρας αρατε αυτον και εκβαλετε εις το σκοτος το εξωτερον εκει εσται ο κλαυθμος και ο βρυγμος των οδοντων |
14. | For many are called, but few are chosen. | Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi. | πολλοι γαρ εισιν κλητοι ολιγοι δε εκλεκτοι |
The Banquet Is Prepared! | ||
|
||
October 12, 2014. Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
|
||
Matthew 22: 1-14 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ´Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.´ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ´The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.´ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ´Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?´ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ´Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.´ For many are called, but few are chosen." Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return. Petition: Father, help me to prepare to be received into your heavenly kingdom. 1. A Banquet beyond Belief: In Palestine during Christ’s time, few festive celebrations rivaled any wedding banquet, let alone a royal one. A wedding was a joyous time, the greatest moment in the lives of the newlyweds. For a royal wedding, it was the greatest moment in the life of the whole kingdom. With his parable of the royal wedding banquet, Christ is giving us a sense of the heaven that he is preparing for us. He is telling each of us, “There is nothing greater than what I want to celebrate with you in eternity!” So if any of our ideas of heaven include something that doesn’t seem attractive or worth-while, we haven’t yet understood heaven. We should ask Christ to give us a glimpse of the joy he wants us to have with him in heaven. 2. Worthy Is as Worthy Does: The king sent invitations to many people, but the response was not what he had hoped for. They rejected his generosity, preferring their own less-than-stellar lives (one went off to his farm, another to attend to some business) over accepting the invitation and participating in the king’s rejoicing. Of course, none of them really deserved to be invited: They hadn’t made themselves worthy by some merit of their own. The king invited them out of his generosity. What made them truly unworthy was their lack of response to this generosity. Their “worthiness” was a gift given to them freely, and it was lost only when they refused the gift. We might ask ourselves, “Am I worthy of heaven?” If we are honest, we realize that the answer is “No.” But in Christ’s eyes, that’s not the important question. The real question is, “Am I responding to and accepting the gifts he has already extended to me?” 3. Underdressed for the Occasion: It is embarrassing for both host and guest when a guest arrives at an elegant banquet dressed in shorts and a t-shirt—thinking he was going to an outdoor pig roast or because he did not know any better. It is another situation altogether when the guest intentionally doesn’t dress up because he doesn’t care, or is presumptuous. Then the host is offended, not just embarrassed. In this parable the king is offended because the guest knew he needed to wear a wedding robe and chose not to. Living in God’s sanctifying grace and friendship is the wedding robe we need to wear in order to be received into the eternal banquet. Christ is warning us against the ultimate pride of presumption: showing up at heaven’s gate without the one thing we know we need in order to share in Christ’s joy. If we strive every day to please our Lord and to live in his grace, we’ll have our wedding gown ready for the banquet. Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, the gift of heaven you have gained for me is beyond any merit of my own, but it shows me how great your generosity is. How can I not but thank you? How can I not but strive each day to respond to and accept with joyful humility all the graces you want to give me, even when it is most difficult for me? Resolution: To respond to God’s love today, I will accept willingly any difficulty or hardship that comes my way. |
October 12, 2014
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10a
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101214.cfm
The Second Coming often inspires fear, awe, or curiosity. The judgment of God, the punishment of his enemies, the vindication of the righteous and the final outworking of his plan of salvation sound like a big show that will be fun to watch. But focusing on the cinematic aspects of the end of time can cause us to lose sight of the real endgame. After the battle is won and the dust settles, what is left? Isaiah depicts the victory of God over death as a meal. It turns out that Harry Potter’s villains, the “Death Eaters,” chose the wrong name. God himself is the real death-eater.
The first reading for this Sunday, Isaiah 25:6-10a, falls in the middle of the so-called “Little Apocalypse” of Isaiah 24–27. These chapters envision a universal judgment (chap. 24), God’s victory over death (25), the peace he establishes (26), and the redemption of his people (27). Here in our reading, God sets out the banquet for his friends to enjoy. The celebration takes the upside-down form of a funeral banquet for death itself.
At this end-of-time meal, the Lord plays host and invites all peoples to dine with him at Mount Zion, the hill on which Jerusalem sits. The site of his kingdom, his Temple, his city, makes for a perfect location. It is the theological center of the world, God’s dwelling place. Now, the newer translations obscure the tastiness of the feast, but the RSV gets it right: “a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined” (Isa 25:6 RSV). The “lees,” in case you are wondering, are the dregs at the bottom of the wine. This is fine wine, aged to perfection, and served up at just the right moment with a proper pairing of fat, marrow-filled foods. If your mouth isn’t watering, it should be! Isaiah wants us to imagine the most sumptuous feast possible.
While the guests are dining on fat foods and fine wines, the Lord chooses a less delicious morsel for himself: death. Yes, God eats death. Again, translations render the word for “swallowing,” bala‘, using other ideas such as “destroying.” But the prophet uses the word twice to emphasize its finality and in between the two uses, he offers a double metaphor for the death God eats: a covering and a veil. The first metaphor is hard to translate. Literally, it is “the face of the covering, the covering over all the nations.” While Isaiah might not have this in mind, these ideas remind me of a pall, a sheet placed over a dead body. He is highlighting the ubiquity of death. All of us succumb eventually to its dark shadow. Everything has been placed under his feet (see 1 Cor 15:23-27). Isaiah says “all peoples” and “all nations” (lit., all the Gentiles) are under the veil of death.
The very universality of death makes God’s decisive swallow climactic. The one entity that “eats” everyone is now himself eaten. Ancient Near Eastern mythology often pictured death as a hungry being looking for more people to devour. Now the one who devoured others is himself devoured. The high point of the eschatological banquet is God’s eating of death.
St. Paul cites this Isaiah passage when he talks about the general resurrection: “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?’” (1 Cor 15:54-5 RSV citing both Isa 25:8 and Hos 13:14). The dark threat of death has been neutralized. Jesus, at Jerusalem, theologically on Mt. Zion (though not literally), comes face to face with death at the Cross. It seems that death “eats” him, but in reality, he swallows up death. The intentions of death are reversed and Jesus rises from the dead, not as a lone, miraculous anomaly, but as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20). Those who have been “buried with him in baptism” (Col 2:12) will be raised from the dead as well. The resurrection of Jesus ushers in the era of Death’s death, of the triumph of life over death, of the victory indicated in the banquet of Isaiah 25.
The aftermath of God’s devouring of death takes on two eye-related dimensions. In the first place, God wipes away the tears from all eyes. We all know that human life is not easy and that the horror and finality of death provoke us to legitimate weeping. The Salve Regina prayer even refers to our world as a “valley of tears.” But in the end, when life finally triumphs over the grave, God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4 RSV). He will eliminate the sorrow, separation and pain of this world and fill us with an unending joy. In the second place, the eyes of those who have joined in the victorious banquet will look to God: “Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!” (Isa 25:9 NAB) For Isaiah, looking toward God expresses our conversion to him and it is the way in which we obtain his saving help (cf. Isa 45:22). The tears of this world are wiped from our eyes and we look upon God and rejoice.
While the judgment of God plays an important role in sorting out the rights and wrongs of our world at the end of time, the time beyond the judgment is where the real glory lies. Our destiny is not to merely witness God’s decisions or learn more details of his truth, but to eat “fat foods” with him and to celebrate his victory forever. Our eyes will no longer run with tears, but be fully filled with the overwhelming vision of Him Who Is.
In a parable, Jesus describes a great wedding feast. Those who get invitations would be wise to ask: “What should I wear?”
Gospel (Read Mt 22:1-14)
In the last of three parables in this portion of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus continues to describe the kingdom of God for “the chief priests and elders.” Today, He compares it to “a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” We should be able to recognize this as an allegory of salvation history right away. It begins with what we usually think of as the end of the story of God and man. The “wedding feast” is a reference to the ultimate union of God’s people with Christ in heaven. There we will know an eternal communion of joy that is anticipated even now in every happy earthly wedding celebration (remember, Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding). Beyond that, it is actually experienced, as a foretaste, in the Eucharist, a pledge of that future joy. However, as good as this sounds, Jesus describes a problem: the invited guests “refused to come.” This refers to the Jews who, although they were God’s covenant people and the first to be invited to the Messianic banquet, became indifferent to Him. The king sent his servants again to the invited guests, but that stirred up hostility among them, and they murdered the servants. Here’s where the story takes a surprising twist.
“The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.” No one would argue the justice of this punishment, considering how long-suffering the king had been in his attempts to bring the guests to his home for a resplendent feast. In this, Jesus is announcing a future judgment on Jerusalem for refusing to believe He was God’s Messiah. Therefore, the king sent out more servants (the apostles) to “invite to the feast whomever you find.” Ultimately, the king’s hall was filled with guests, “bad and good alike.” Here Jesus describes how the Gospel would be preached to all people, Gentiles and Jews, and many would gladly respond to enter a new covenant with God. This looks like a happy ending, yet the story now takes another turn.
“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.” In those days, kings gave regal garments to those whom they chose to favor (see Gn 45:22; Esther 6:8). Not to wear it would, of course, be an act of great disrespect and insult to the king. When questioned, the man without his garment had no answer; there were no words that would explain away his behavior. He was thrust out of the party. So, even though the invitation to the feast had gone out far and wide, to both “bad and good,” there was still an individualresponse that each guest had to make to the king. What did Jesus mean in this part of the parable?
Jesus wants to make it as clear as He can that an invitation to the joy of eternal communion with God, offered in the Gospel and received in baptism, calls for a personal response. Ethnic identity (the Jews then) or attendance at church (Christians now) doesn’t automatically guarantee a place at the banqueting table. We will need to be wearing appropriate attire, provided by God Himself, which is a metaphor for the righteous deeds that accompany faith (see Rev 19:7-8). Our good works are our personal response to the grace given to us in Christ. “Many are invited,” says Jesus, “but few are chosen.” This was simply another way of saying what He frequently says in the Gospels: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father” (Mt 7:21; see also Mt 25:31-46).
Possible response: Heavenly Father, I never want to turn a deaf ear to You when You invite me to draw close. Please heal my hearing.
First Reading (Read Isa 25:6-10a)
Here is a beautiful prophecy of the joy God has always intended for His people. Isaiah, writing around 700 B.C., delivered it as a word of hope, because Judah was about to undergo a terrible chastisement for her covenant infidelity. Nevertheless, God promises “a feast of rich food and choice wines” for “all peoples,” a foreshadowing of the Eucharist and the nuptial feast of the Lamb. Where will this feast take place? It will happen “on this mountain,” which is, first, the city of Jerusalem, and then the heavenly Jerusalem of eternity. See how this characteristic of double fulfillment pervades the whole prophecy. Isaiah speaks of the destruction of a “veil.” That happened at the time of the Crucifixion, when the “veil” guarding the Holy of Holies in the Temple was torn from top to bottom (Mt 27:50-51a). It will also happen at the end of time, when there will be an “unveiling” of reality itself (the word for “unveiling” or “revelation” in Greek is apokalypsis). There is a promise that God “will wipe away the tears from every face.” Think of Jesus saying to Mary Magdalene on Resurrection Day: “Woman, why are you weeping?” (Jn 20:15) The Book of Revelation assures us that one day, tears will end forever (see Rev 21:1-4). Finally, there is a promise that God’s people will “behold our God, to Whom we looked to save us. This is the LORD for Whom we looked.” It was John the Baptist who first announced the fulfillment of this prophecy when he called out, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (Jn 1:29) It was St. John the Evangelist who wrote about its fulfillment in his Gospel: “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, has made Him known” (Jn 1:18). And, when time ends, St. John also tells us: “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men” (Rev 21:3).
When we read this Old Testament prophecy, we can better understand Jesus’ parable. Our “king” has long desired to invite His people to a joyous feast. Israel understood herself to be espoused to God (see Isa 54:5; Jer 3:20; Hos 2:14-20), so a “wedding feast” with Him was not surprising. The chief priests and elders who heard Jesus that day should have known that to refuse the invitation was to lose their inheritance. No one should ever be indifferent to a banquet like this.
Possible response: Heavenly Father, thank You for this promise of joy that lasts forever and the end of all tears. Give me patience to wait.
Psalm (Read Ps 23:1-6)
This psalm is so familiar to us. How is it connected to our other readings? It is the heartfelt praise of one whoaccepts God’s invitation to communion and fellowship with Him. It details for us why this invitation overshadows anything else that calls to us in life. When we answer God’s call, we have refreshment, guidance, and courage. The banquet table God sets for us is secure even in the presence of our enemies. God’s goodness and kindness are our constant companions. The psalm should stir us up to eagerly accept God’s invitation and to say with the psalmist: “I shall live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.”
Possible response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.
Second Reading (Read Phil 4:12-14, 19-20)
Our readings have been about an invitation to communion with God. That can sound ethereal and mysterious. The epistle gives us concrete understanding of what communion with Christ actually does in our lives now. St. Paul tells us that he has “learned the secret” of not relying on his circumstances for contentment. This is a treasured lesson! What is the “secret”? It is knowing, from our personal relationship with Christ, that we “can do all things in Him Who strengthens” us. The invitation to communion with God, now and for eternity, means to be firmly planted in this conviction. No wonder St. Paul says, “To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Possible response: Lord Jesus, please be my strength today. Remind me that my contentment always lies in You.
Language: English | Español
All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 6
|
Part 4: Christian Prayer (2558 - 2865)
Section 2: The Lord's Prayer (2759 - 2865)
Chapter 3: The Seven Petitions (2803 - 2854)
III. "THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN" ⇡
Our Father "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."95 He "is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish."96 His commandment is "that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."97 This commandment summarizes all the others and expresses his entire will.
95.
96.
97.
Jn 13:34; cf. 1 Jn 3; 4; Lk 10:25-37.
"He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ ... to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will."98 We ask insistently for this loving plan to be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven.
98.
In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God."99 Only Jesus can say: "I always do what is pleasing to him."100 In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: "not my will, but yours be done."101 For this reason Jesus "gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father."102 "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."103
99.
100.
101.
Lk 22:42; cf. Jn 4:34; 5:30; 6:38.
102.
103.
"Although he was a Son, [Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered."104 How much more reason have we sinful creatures to learn obedience we who in him have become children of adoption. We ask our Father to unite our will to his Son's, in order to fulfill his will, his plan of salvation for the life of the world. We are radically incapable of this, but united with Jesus and with the power of his Holy Spirit, we can surrender our will to him and decide to choose what his Son has always chosen: to do what is pleasing to the Father.105 In committing ourselves to [Christ], we can become one spirit with him, and thereby accomplish his will, in such wise that it will be perfect on earth as it is in heaven.106
Consider how Jesus Christ] teaches us to be humble, by making us see that our virtue does not depend on our work alone but on grace from on high. He commands each of the faithful who prays to do so universally, for the whole world. For he did not say "thy will be done in me or in us," but "on earth," the whole earth, so that error may be banished from it, truth take root in it, all vice be destroyed on it, virtue flourish on it, and earth no longer differ from heaven.107
104.
105.
Cf. Jn 8:29.
106.
Origen, De orat. 26:PG 11,501B.
107.
St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Mt. 19,5:PG 57,280.
By prayer we can discern "what is the will of God" and obtain the endurance to do it.108 Jesus teaches us that one enters the kingdom of heaven not by speaking words, but by doing "the will of my Father in heaven."109
108.
Rom 12:2; cf. Eph 5:17; cf. Heb 10:36.
109.
"If any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him."110 Such is the power of the Church's prayer in the name of her Lord, above all in the Eucharist. Her prayer is also a communion of intercession with the all-holy Mother of God111 and all the saints who have been pleasing to the Lord because they willed his will alone: It would not be inconsistent with the truth to understand the words, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," to mean: "in the Church as in our Lord Jesus Christ himself"; or "in the Bride who has been betrothed, just as in the Bridegroom who has accomplished the will of the Father."112
110.
111.
Cf. Lk 1:38,49.
112.
St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. 2,6,24:PL 34,1279.
IV. "GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD" ⇡
"Give us": The trust of children who look to their Father for everything is beautiful. "He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."113 He gives to all the living "their food in due season."114 Jesus teaches us this petition, because it glorifies our Father by acknowledging how good he is, beyond all goodness.
113.
114.
"Give us" also expresses the covenant. We are his and he is ours, for our sake. But this "us" also recognizes him as the Father of all men and we pray to him for them all, in solidarity with their needs and sufferings.
"Our bread": The Father who gives us life cannot not but give us the nourishment life requires all appropriate goods and blessings, both material and spiritual. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus insists on the filial trust that cooperates with our Father's providence.115 He is not inviting us to idleness,116 but wants to relieve us from nagging worry and preoccupation. Such is the filial surrender of the children of God: To those who seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, he has promised to give all else besides. Since everything indeed belongs to God, he who possesses God wants for nothing, if he himself is not found wanting before God.117
115.
Cf. Mt 6:25-34.
116.
Cf. 2 Thes 3:6-13.
117.
St. Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 21:PL 4,534A.
But the presence of those who hunger because they lack bread opens up another profound meaning of this petition. The drama of hunger in the world calls Christians who pray sincerely to exercise responsibility toward their brethren, both in their personal behavior and in their solidarity with the human family. This petition of the Lord's Prayer cannot be isolated from the parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment.118
118.
Cf. Lk 16:19-31; Mt 25:31-46.
As leaven in the dough, the newness of the kingdom should make the earth "rise" by the Spirit of Christ.119 This must be shown by the establishment of justice in personal and social, economic and international relations, without ever forgetting that there are no just structures without people who want to be just.
119.
Cf. AA 5.
"Our" bread is the "one" loaf for the "many." In the Beatitudes "poverty" is the virtue of sharing: it calls us to communicate and share both material and spiritual goods, not by coercion but out of love, so that the abundance of some may remedy the needs of others.120
120.
Cf. 2 Cor 8:1-15.
"Pray and work."121 "Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you."122 Even when we have done our work, the food we receive is still a gift from our Father; it is good to ask him for it and to thank him, as Christian families do when saying grace at meals.
121.
Cf. St. Benedict, Regula, 20,48.
122.
Attributed to St. Ignatius Loyola, cf. Joseph de Guibert, SJ, The Jesuits: Their Spiritual Doctrine and Practice, (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1964), 148, n. 55.
This petition, with the responsibility it involves, also applies to another hunger from which men are perishing: "Man does not live by bread alone, but ... by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,"123 that is, by the Word he speaks and the Spirit he breathes forth. Christians must make every effort "to proclaim the good news to the poor." There is a famine on earth, "not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD."124 For this reason the specifically Christian sense of this fourth petition concerns the Bread of Life: The Word of God accepted in faith, the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist.125
123.
124.
125.
Cf. Jn 6:26-58.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.