Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 6-20-02

Reading I
Sir 48:1-14

Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord's word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You brought a dead man back to life
from the nether world, by the will of the Lord.
You sent kings down to destruction,
and easily broke their power into pieces.
You brought down nobles, from their beds of sickness.
You heard threats at Sinai,
at Horeb avenging judgments.
You anointed kings who should inflict vengeance,
and a prophet as your successor.
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
And who falls asleep in your friendship.
For we live only in our life,
but after death our name will not be such.
O Elijah, enveloped in the whirlwind!

Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit,
wrought many marvels by his mere word.
During his lifetime he feared no one,
nor was any man able to intimidate his will.
Nothing was beyond his power;
beneath him flesh was brought back into life.
In life he performed wonders,
and after death, marvelous deeds.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 97:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7

R. (12a) Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes round about.
His lightnings illumine the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
All who worship graven things are put to shame,
who glory in the things of nought;
all gods are prostrate before him.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!

Gospel
Mt 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This is how you are to pray:

‘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.'

"If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."

Although The New American, The Navarre Bible and The New Vulgate do not include the "Amen", the Douay Rheims translation does include it as the conclusion to the Pater Noster.
"Sed libera nos a malo. Amen."

It's not my intention to start a debate over "which translation is best." Others have wisely said that the "best" translation is the one you read daily. But, I think we ought to realize that not all of the Bible translations in use today (even those approved by the Church) are in absolute agreement.

The following partial commentary on today's Gospel, in particular the conclusion, "deliver us from evil. Amen" is from St. Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea.

Aug.: We ought to pray not only that we may not be led [p. 235] into evil from which we are at present free; but further that we may be set free from that into which we have already been led.

Therefore it follows, "Deliver us from evil."

Aug., Epist., 130, 11: This petition with which the Lord's Prayer concludes is of such extent, that a Christian man in whatever tribulation cast, will in this petition utter groans, in this shed tears, here begin and here end his prayer. And therefore follows "Amen," by which is expressed the strong desire of him that prays.

Jerome: "Amen," which appears here at the close, is the seal of the Lord's Prayer. Aquila rendered 'faithfully' - we may perhaps 'truly.'

Cyprian: We need not wonder, dearest brethren, that this is God's prayer, seeing how His instruction comprises all our petitioning, in one saving sentence. This had already been prophesied by Isaiah the Prophet, "A short word will God make in the whole earth." [Isa 10:22] For when our Lord Jesus Christ came unto all, and gather together the learned alike and the unlearned, did to every sex and age set forth the precepts of salvation, He made a full compendium of His instructions, that the memory of the scholars might not labour in the heavenly discipline, but accept with readiness whatsoever was necessary into a simple faith.

Aug., Epist., 130, 12: And whatever other words we may use, either introductory to quicken the affections, or in conclusion to add to them, we say nothing more than is contained in the Lord's Prayer if we pray rightly and connectedly.

For he who says, "Glorify thyself in all nations, as thou art glorified among us," what else does he say than, "Hallowed be thy name?" He who prays, "Shew thy face and we shall be safe," [Ps 80:3] what is it but to say, "Let thy kingdom come?" To say, "Direct my steps according to thy word," [Ps 119:133] what is it more than, "Thy will be done?" To say, "Give me neither poverty nor riches," [Prov 30:8] what else is it than, "Give us this day our daily bread?" [p. 236] "Lord, remember David and all his mercifulness!" [Ps 131:1] and, "If I have returned evil for evil," [Ps 7:4] what else but, "Forgive us our debts even as we forgive our debtors?" He who says, "Remove far from me all greediness of belly," what else does he say, but "Lead us not into temptation?" He who says, "Save me, O my God, from my enemies," [Ps 59:1] what else does he say but "Deliver us from evil?"

And if you thus go through all the words of the holy prayers, you will find nothing that is not contained in the Lord's Prayer. Whoever then speaks such words as have no relation to this evangelic prayer, prays carnally; and such prayer I know not why we should not pronounce unlawful, seeing the Lord instructs those who are born again only to pray spiritually. But whoso in prayer says, Lord, increase my riches, add to my honours; and that from desire of such things, not with a view to doing men service after God's will by such things; I think that he finds nothing in the Lord's Prayer on which he may build such petitions.

Let such a one then be withheld by shame from praying for, if not from desiring, such things. But if he have shame at the desire, yet desire overcomes, he will do better to pray for deliverance from the evil of desire to Him to whom we say, "Deliver us from evil."

O Elijah, enveloped in the whirlwind!

Such power and grace. The phrase reminds me of Bush's inaugural address which closed with, "Do you not think an Angel rides in the Whirlwind and directs this Storm?" Quote from John Page to Thomas Jefferson, July 20, 1776, referring of course, to the whirlwind of the American Revolution, directed from on high. This concept always gives me goosebumps.

The notion of grace is difficult to grasp for many people who need to have step-by-step directions for everything including how to communicate with God. I stay out of those arguments.

America, America, God shed his grace on thee.

BTW, you might enjoy the book, Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution by Benson Bobrick, himself a descendant of 17th century settlers. Several Freepers got the book after Bush's inauguration. It's an excellent read.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the American and Canadian bishops would read and learn...

It sure would.

Have you ever read anything written by Mother Teresa? In opening her many branches around the world, I understand that from time to time she ran into less then cooperative bishops -- individuals that were hostile to her and her work for some reason. It didn't affect her resolve and she did what she could do under adverse circumstances abandoning a place only when the local bishop reneged on his promise and refused to allow a priest to say daily mass at the sisters' chapel.

You have seen this before, but it was one of her favorite prayers and it is said by the Missionaries of Charity every day. I believe her prayer life, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and her dedication to the Will of God, were the means that enabled her not to loose focus and despair even in the midst of her trials.

Dear Lord, help me to spread your fragrance
wherever I go.
Flood my soul with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly
that all my life may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through me and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with
may feel your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only you, O Lord!

Stay with me, then I shall begin to shine as you do,
so to shine as to be light to others.
The light, O Lord, will be all from you.
None of it will be mine.
It will be you shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise you in the way you love best
by shining on those around me.

Let me preach you without preaching,
not by words, but by my example;
by the catching force -
the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to you.
Amen.

John Henry Cardinal Newman

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