Why Pray?

The “foreigners” as Isaiah calls them, the “Gentiles” as Paul calls them, or the “Canaanites” as Matthew calls them are called to worship the one true God in prayer. As we listen to today’s readings, perhaps we are tempted to ask: Why pray? The question is rhetorical; it is tantamount to asking why should friends talk to one another or people in love kiss one another. Prayer is a way of relating to God, a way of talking to God. The apostles had the opportunity to talk to Jesus in the flesh. We have the opportunity to talk to Jesus Christ in prayer. Our relationship with him must be enthusiastic; it cannot be faint-hearted. John Donne, a fifteenth-century poet, knew what the qualities of good prayer were. Donne asks God to treat him differently from most Christians. The poet does not want God to merely “knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend,” but also to “break, blow, burn, and make me new” (Holy Sonnets, XIV).

It takes a dynamic faith on our part to come to God in prayer. As Jesus once said, “Knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). It may take pounding the door down, but if we are as persistent as the woman in to- day’s Gospel, the results will follow.

The Way We Pray: Confiteor

In last Sunday’s Bulletin, you might have read about our upcoming English lan- guage updates in the Mass. I mentioned the change to the greeting:

Priest: “The Lord be with you.”
You All: “And with your spirit.”

After this initial greeting on most Sundays, the celebrant invites everyone to pre- pare themselves to celebrate the sacred Mysteries, seek God’s mercy and for- giveness, and acknowledge a communal need for grace and salvation from individ- ual sin. In other, simpler words, we’re showing that we need divine forgiveness and heavenly grace so we can participate in what is holy and pure and true. Deacon Randy might then begin the Penitential Rite….

“Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy”
or “Kyrie, eleison; Christe, eleison; Kyrie, eleison.”

Or the priest might begin an ancient prayer known by it’s Latin name, Confiteor. There has been a change in the translation into English. So this might be a prayer that you’d memorize in this new version.

I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done
and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault,
through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

For those that might remember the Latin, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, you can see the directly translated through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.

So, once we’ve confessed or otherwise demonstrated that we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s ideal for humanity, then we can receive the fullest blessing of for- giveness, Sacrament, and God’s glory.

Speaking of Glory, that’s the subject for next week!

The Way We Pray: A New Translation of What We’ve Always Celebrated

You might have read or heard that there are going to be some changes in the words we pray at Mass – these changes will officially start on the First Sunday of Advent this year. So let’s think about this a little bit and prepare ourselves to understand what’s going on.

During the Second Vatican Council (think of a big, extended, international meeting of Cardinals, Bishops, Church leaders, theologians and experts – the Council lasted from October 1962 to December 1965), various language groups were given the ability to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass in their own specific languages. That meant that translations from the Latin text needed to be undertaken, approved, and put into practice. Latin of course was, and still is, the official language of our Church – that’s why we’re known as Roman Catholics, or Latin Rite Catholics.

So as the English language translators worked on this “vernacular” project back in the late 1960’s – 1970’s, they used a translation method known as “dynamic equivalence”. Dynamic equivalence attempts to bring out as much of the original meaning as possible while using current idioms, and colloquial ways of speaking. Intended meanings are judged and then put forth. Unfortunately through this method, original meanings might get lost, confused, or even contradict what was originally intended. So since the first English Language Missal was promulgated, the leaders of our Church have been working through the Ecclesial, theological and practical process to provide the English speaking world with a better, more accurate, more traditional, and more precise translation. Thus, the new Roman Missal, 3rd Edition.

So here’s one of the first changes that you’ll experience when we begin praying this new translation.

If you remember your Latin, you might remember the Priests of yore saying:

Dominus Vobiscum

The response from the faithful was:

Et cum spiritu tuo

The old (and still current) translation is:

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Even with not much education in Latin, the translations don’t match. So for the sake of precision our new translation will be:

Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.

Now, this dialogue expressing God’s presence and blessing as we begin the liturgy, while beautiful, is not commonly understood English. So it will become part of what we do as Church to come to understand the mystery within the words. Liturgists and theologians and all of us as the faithful will reflect on what is meant. Maybe this phrase is recognition by the faithful of the presence of the Holy Spirit on the office of the priest. Perhaps this phrase is an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ being the one true Priest, and the presider is only acting in accord with the will of Christ. Both ways, by specifically referencing the Priest’s spirit we can affirm his transformation through Holy Orders and pray for his ministry. So, as we all get used to this new exchange, let us pray together, Priest and faithful, for greater communion with the Holy Spirit.

The Way We Pray

So today in this little column we’re starting a little series of articles about the holy sacrifice of the Mass. As you might have heard, some of the language we use in our Eucharistic celebration is going to change very soon, the First Sunday of Advent to be exact. So what better time to think about what we do in our Eucharistic liturgy? So let’s start at the very beginning… but oh so much more than just a beginning.

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

This is the prayerful blessing we employ to start our Liturgy, and with this phrase all together we make a physical sign, a ritual action that marks who we are, who we belong to, and who we’re hoping to be with forever. With this combining sign of thoughts, words and action we both show and speak of the God we’re about to worship. By making the Sign of the Cross we bind up and strengthen ourselves for pure worship, with the realization of God’s protection, grace, mercy, deliverance, and holiness.

Now this is what we’ve always said and done as Church. Making the Sign of the Cross has ancient origins with a continuous history even to our day. The Sign of the Cross also takes what we do together as a common liturgical sign and transforms it into a prayer of personal devotion as we dip into Holy Water, or begin a rosary, or have a spontaneous need, recalling God’s protection or blessing, or as we prepare to run a race or start a boxing match. The Sign of the Cross blesses all aspects of our lives… and that starts with liturgy – baptismal, Eucharistic, and ultimately heavenly.

So consider how writer Romano Guardini invites us to contemplate our practice in this book Sacred Signs:

“When we cross ourselves, let it be with a real sign of the cross. Instead of a small cramped gesture that gives no notion of its meaning, let us make a large unhurried sign… consciously feeling how it includes the whole of us, our thoughts, our attitudes, our body and soul, every part of us at once, how it consecrates and sanctifies us…”

Finally, put into practice one of my favorite images from Tertullian, writing from 2nd Century North Africa:

“We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross”.

I can think of no better way to wear out our foreheads, or our minds and our hearts than with a Sign of God’s love for us.

God’s Words

Each day we are bombarded with thousands of words. From the moment our clock radios click on in the morning, until the last moment of the day when the television is turned off or someone bids us “good-night,” our life is filled with words. Some words that we hear bring news that leaves us feeling low. Some words lift our spirits. Many of the words we hear are trying to get us to buy something. Some words are hurtful. Today the Church focuses our attention on hearing the word of God. Are God’s words just more of the same—part of the endless stream of words that flow into our ears each day? The challenge today is to allow God’s word to inspire us in new ways so that our outlook and attitudes align themselves more closely with the heart and mind of Christ Jesus.