The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the nature of the daily bread we are offered in our prayerful connection with God.
The reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians explores Paul and the False Apostles.
* [11:1–15] Although these verses continue to reveal information about Paul’s opponents and the differences he perceives between them and himself, 2 Cor 11:1 signals a turn in Paul’s thought. This section constitutes a prologue to the boasting that he will undertake in 2 Cor 11:16–12:10, and it bears remarkable similarities to the section that follows the central boast, 2 Cor 12:11–18. (2 Corinthians, CHAPTER 11, n.d.)
Psalm 111 offers praise for God’s Wonderful Works.
* [Psalm 111] A Temple singer (Ps 111:1) tells how God is revealed in Israel’s history (Ps 111:2–10). The deeds reveal God’s very self, powerful, merciful, faithful. The poem is an acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. (Psalms, PSALM 111, n.d.)
In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord’s Prayer is presented.
* [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. (Matthew, CHAPTER 6, n.d.)
Mirielle Mason comments that we are given a rather strong ultimatum: forgive others or we will not be forgiven by the heavenly father.
When I think about it, mercy may be the thing I ask for most in this life. Mercy from God. Mercy from others for my mistakes or transgressions against them. And yet, how hard is it for me to give mercy to others? Perhaps that is why Jesus is so serious about the importance of forgiveness. If we cannot forgive others, why would we be deserving of forgiveness in return?
Lord, give me the courage and peace to forgive others, no matter the transgression against me. (Mason, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Blessed are they who recognize their Father!” by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.
"Our Lord so frequently spoke to us of God as Father. He even taught us to call none on earth father, but only the one we have in heaven (Matthew 23:9). Therefore, when we pray to the Father, we are following this command. Blessed are they who recognize their Father! Remember the reproach made against Israel, when the Spirit calls heaven and earth to witness, saying, 'I have begotten sons and they have not known me' (Isaiah 1:2). In addressing him as Father we are also naming him God, so as to combine in a single term both filial love and power. Addressing the Father, the Son is also being addressed, for Christ said, 'I and the Father are one.' Nor is Mother Church passed over without mention, for the mother is recognized in the Son and the Father, as it is within the church that we learn the meaning of the terms Father and Son." (excerpt from ON PRAYER 2.2-6) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15 comments that Jesus can inspire us to try to be more like him. But he’s not just our model. He’s also the One who can make our hearts more forgiving. He always offers us grace to bear insults or ridicule without resentment. He provides us with patience when we face annoyance or frustration. Even when a wrong done to us seems too heavy, when the pain of betrayal or abandonment washes away our goodwill, Jesus can gently move our hearts to at least be open to forgive.
As you pray the Lord’s Prayer today, focus on forgiveness. Certainly, ask your heavenly Father to forgive you. But ask him as well for the grace and strength to forgive those who have trespassed against you, just as his Son did.
“Jesus, thank you for forgiving me freely, completely, and wholeheartedly!” (Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15, n.d.)
Joseph Munitiz SJ, a writer, editor and translator, asks as familiar as the words of the Our Father may be, how often do we reflect on their meaning? A distinction is needed here between a translation and an exegesis (explanation): the translator’s task is (roughly) to express in the words of one language what the words of another language are saying, though clearly excessive literalness may not achieve this. But in some cases the meaning of those words in the target language may not be clear.
But there are two further points where doubts arise: Pope Francis has drawn attention to the first when he suggests abandoning ‘Lead us not into temptation’ as being false both to the Greek and to the notion of a kindly God. Hart supports him and offers, ‘And do not bring us to trial’, which corrects the Latin, et ne nos inducas in tentationem, and is faithful to the Greek. But the final words, tou ponérou, are also worth attention: ‘from the Evil One’, suggests King, which is probably correct given the role of the Evil One in the Gospel of Matthew (5:37; 13:19,38); Hart gives a less ‘diabolical’ version, ‘from him who is wicked’ – so anyone who might do us harm. (Munitiz, 2018)
Friar Jude Winkler unravels the order of “letters” to the Corinthians as he comments on the “angry letter” that expresses his frustration with Gnostic supernatural teaching from the superapostles. The liturgical prayer of Matthew’s Gospel and the disjointed petitions in Luke exhort us to a relationship with “Abba”. Friar Jude reminds us of the prominence of forgiveness and strength to face tribulation in our prayer to the Father.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, views shadow work as essential for our transformation.
There’s a shadowland where we are led by our own selfishness, stupidity, sinfulness, and by living out of the false self. We have to work our way back out of this with brutal honesty, confessions, surrenders, forgiveness, and often by some necessary restitution or apology. By any account, it is major “inner surgery” and feels like dying—although it also feels like immense liberation. We need help at these times.
There’s another shadowland, however, into which we’re led by God and grace, and the nature of the journey itself. Many saints have called it “the dark night.” The difference is that we still sense that we have been led here intentionally, somehow. We know we are in liminal space, betwixt and between, on the threshold—and we have to stay here until we have learned something essential. It is still no fun—filled with doubt and “demons” of every sort—but it is the dark night of God. All transformation takes place in such liminal space. [1] (Rohr, 2023)
We accept the prompting of the Spirit to reveal the daily sustenance that we encounter through prayer to Our Father.
References
Mason, M. (2023, June 22). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/062223.html
Matthew, CHAPTER 6. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6?7
Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/06/22/713124/
Munitiz, J. (2018, June 20). Translating the Our Father. Thinking Faith. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/translating-our-father
Psalms, PSALM 111. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/111?1
Rohr, R. (2023, June 22). The Shadow Is a Necessary Teacher — Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-shadow-is-a-necessary-teacher-2023-06-22/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=jun22
2 Corinthians, CHAPTER 11. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/11?1
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