Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 17, 2010 - Thursday in the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
[Sirach 48:1-14 and Matthew 6:7-15]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......
These introductory lines to the "Lord's Prayer" may be a wry "insider" comment. They seem to assume something that Jesus' listeners would be aware of. We have to remember that not everyone in Palestine at the time of Jesus was Jewish! The Romans, Greeks, Canaanites and passing merchants were all pagan folks for the most part. Religious observances of a non-Jewish nature would have occurred in any number of the big cities, for instance. Apparently these observances included prayers of some length! Perhaps we Catholics can learn something from this comment by noting the brevity and simplicity of the prayer that Jesus taught! I must admit that certain Catholic devotional practices seem to go on forever, even if their very length is a comfort to those who say them! We might note, too, the comment that "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him!" The very prayer indicates what those needs are! The prayer speaks to needs that are both present-time and future. We must acknowledge our dependence on God for life and sustenance. We must work to make God and God's kingdom known! We must forgive if we expect to be forgiven. We must trust God to protect us as we need. The Lord's Prayer is not a "theological sound-byte." There is an immense amount of truth, love and challenge in its sheer simplicity and brevity. We lose a lot of that by our rapid-fire, rote-recitation of those words. Taking the time to appreciate what we are doing in this prayer might assist us in meeting Jesus' challenge against "babbling!" AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
111 ms
4
