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The Book of Sirach describes how Elisha continued Elijah’s work as evidence of the Wisdom of the Prophets of the Hebrew people.
* [48:12–16] Elisha continued Elijah’s work (vv. 12–14), but the obstinacy of the people eventually brought on the destruction of the kingdom of Israel and the dispersion of its subjects. Judah, however, survived under the rule of Davidic kings, both good and bad (vv. 15–16).In the Gospel from Matthew, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to pray to the Father.
* [6:9–13] Matthew’s form of the “Our Father” follows the liturgical tradition of his church. Luke’s less developed form also represents the liturgical tradition known to him, but it is probably closer than Matthew’s to the original words of Jesus.An article by Brent MacDonald compares the versions of The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew and Luke.
The Lord's Prayer, our "Our Father," or "Pater Noster," is a prayer found in two occurrences in the New Testament. While often referred to as parallel passages, they are only so in relative content and not in circumstances. It appears that Jesus taught on prayer at two different times, one recorded in the gospel of Matthew, the other in the gospel of Luke.Larry Gillick, S.J reflects that the prayer of Jesus encourages us to share the “Daily Bread” of forgiveness in our forgiving others, not judiciously, but "revealationally." He notes that all we have, including our being forgiven, is not just for me, but for us, God’s family.
Our experiences of being slighted, injured, slandered and betrayed are difficult to be healed. We find it not easy to forgive ourselves as well as to forgive others. We have a strong sense of Justice in such a way that revenge seems the only way for Justice to be served. In a sense grudges, resulting from injury, become a possession of power and we can hold them as a treasure for a long time, just waiting for that power, that richness, to be served upon our “injurer”.Don Schwager explores the wisdom of John Cassian (360-435 AD), an early church father, who lived for several years with the monks in Bethlehem and Egypt before founding a monastery in southern Gaul. He wrote about the Lord's Prayer and the necessity of forgiving one another from the heart.
"The mercy of God is beyond description. While he is offering us a model prayer he is teaching us a way of life whereby we can be pleasing in his sight. But that is not all. In this same prayer he gives us an easy method for attracting an indulgent and merciful judgment on our lives. He gives us the possibility of ourselves mitigating the sentence hanging over us and of compelling him to pardon us. What else could he do in the face of our generosity when we ask him to forgive us as we have forgiven our neighbor? If we are faithful in this prayer, each of us will ask forgiveness for our own failings after we have forgiven the sins of those who have sinned against us, not only those who have sinned against our Master. There is, in fact, in some of us a very bad habit. We treat our sins against God, however appalling, with gentle indulgence - but when by contrast it is a matter of sins against us ourselves, albeit very tiny ones, we exact reparation with ruthless severity. Anyone who has not forgiven from the bottom of the heart the brother or sister who has done him wrong will only obtain from this prayer his own condemnation, rather than any mercy."The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15 offers that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we’re praying the essentials—the things we need to say. Then we can quickly shift our attention to listening to God and giving him an opportunity to open himself up to us.
Try devoting your prayer time today to the Lord’s Prayer. Recite it slowly. Pause for a moment to dwell on each phrase. Know that God hears every word. What’s more, he sees your heart. He is aware of all of your needs today—you don’t even have to mention them. Instead, you can thank him for giving you such a beautiful, simple prayer. Then invite him to respond. Who knows? This could lead into a very meaningful conversation.Friar Jude Winkler provides background on finding a Hebrew version of Sirach. The elugies of the great figures of Israel are showing that Hebrew Wisdom is just as good as Greek Wisdom. In Jesus time God was considered very distance. The Our Father is countercultural. We are invited into special relationship with God as “Abba”. Friar Jude comments on the suggestion of Pope Francis to change the English translation of this ancient prayer.
M J C Warren, Lecturer in Biblical and Religious Studies, University of Sheffield, writes that Pope Francis is wrong about the Lord’s Prayer.
There are two major issues with Pope Francis’s call to change the Lord’s Prayer. In attempting to remove any implication that God has some hand in evil, the Pope not only overlooks the many biblical examples where God works with Satan to test his followers and even his own son, but he also ignores the plain meaning of the Gospel text. A more consistent understanding of God actually requires that wording, begging God not to lead a worshipper into temptation.Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that mystics from every tradition testify to the aliveness and sentience of all things, and that the natural world is lit up with the flame of divinity. This does and must include us.
St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-c. 394) offered another beautiful, succinct, and useful definition of sin. Sin, he [suggested], is a refusal to keep growing. [3]The conversation we begin with the Lord’s Prayer urges us to grow with the Body of Christ avoiding temptations to treat the other as less.
This is a growing moment. Growth is painful.
I don’t believe hell or heaven to be post-life destinations. I believe they are states of consciousness largely visible here and now. A world of objects is a kind of hell. A world of subjects—divine beings honoring the divinity in the other—is surely heaven. May we point our feet toward this heaven and begin the hard and necessary work of walking there.
References
(n.d.). Sirach, chapter 48 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/48
(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew6:48
(n.d.). NJAB - The Lord's Prayer, Matthew vs Luke. Many manuscript variants .... Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://notjustanotherbook.com/thelordsprayer.htm
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.htm
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). 11th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(2017, December 8). 'Lead us not into temptation': why Pope Francis is wrong about the .... Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://theconversation.com/lead-us-not-into-temptation-why-pope-francis-is-wrong-about-the-lords-prayer-88886
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/
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