Praying the 'Our Father'

There are times in a life when we feel our problems and pressures take over our days at the expense of our hopes and our faith; sometimes we feel that the issues we face are unique, that we must face them now alone. It is frightening to feel out on a limb, alone without the support of the community. Yet for many, their day to day existence is just that.
Author, theologian and Priest Alfred McBride O,Praem., writes a fine story that many will find useful as a springboard for their spiritual growth. His topic: the ever present prayer. He includes in his book, the Our Father (Pater Nostre). Prayed by millions for centuries the prayer is both simple for a child to recite and an adult to ponder. He calls his book, How to Pray Like Jesus and the Saints.

His book is composed of 10 chapters; each explores the spirituality of mystics, poets and Doctors of the Church, those from whom she has derived much wisdom over the centuries. The 'Our Father' prayer he writes, is "crisp and short." Each of its seven parts invites interpretation and consideration. The antiquity of this prayer, has invited many commentaries, some as ancient as those of Saint Cyprian of Carthage.
It is written in the plural, so that when one prays it, he or she prays not for them self alone but in the plural, we/our. It directs one to think of 'Our Father' rather than simply 'my father.'

This sets the universal tone which follows through the other six verses. It distinguishes God the Father, God the Creator, from the unique, personal father, our earthly father which each one of us may know. It encourages that we identify with this One, universal Father, that we may be community for one another, the Body of the Christ.

'Hallowed be thy Name' the next verse reflects the holy, divine nature of the Creator. The one who prays, prays for the gift of holiness of the Creator personally for all mankind.
'Thy Kingdom Come,' the third verse of the prayer asks that we accept God's will. It acknowledges that the kingdom has already arrived, that mankind might cooperate with the agency of Creation, so as to know their own spark of divinity. This unceasing prayer is for a "kingdom of love, justice, holiness, salvation [from evil]… and the grace of divine life." It lends its sanctity to the whole of human activity within every heart.
'Thy Will Be Done' is perhaps the most spiritually challenging directive of the seven verses. It seeks more than acceptance of the Kingdom, the created world that all can see and touch, but more abstractly, the will of the Creator itself a thing which cannot be easily perceived with the eyes; rather it is more of the heart.
'Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread' which in one sense is the literal daily food we eat to survive, but also it's about the spiritual side of our lives, that which sustains and enlivens us and our faith.
'Forgive Us Our Trespasses as We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us,' the spiritual and emotional pains of daily life are nearly unavoidable.
Spiritually everyone who suffers at times needs to be able to release their pains to return to the spiritual state of the child who is loving, without resentment and the essence of forgiveness, hopeful and forward looking.
'Lead Us Not Into Temptation' the Creator makes his creations free, without hold; this is his loving desire that is imparted upon all. While the freedom to choose to love is the ultimate spiritual desire, God recognizes that humanity may be tempted and drawn away from the common good; how many times we are tempted to choose what is our detriment! This verse strengthens our resolve to turn from evil, to walk in the light.
And finally, the seventh verse directly prays that we may be 'But Deliver(ed) Us From Evil.' author McBride recalls C.S. Lewis' book, The Screwtape Letters, a satire in which there is much tempting of mankind by a devil called, Screwtape who lures people to tolerate and perpetuate wrong doing.

In participating in acts of evil, ones' conscience is dampened over time; the harm which may result becomes more obscure to the perpetrator and establishes a new norm-- that they them self are at the center of their own universe. Sadly it more often leads to a slavery of the spiritual self, an attraction of evil for evil, deceit for deceit and a coldness of heart. Screwtape, we learn, is foiled by an encounter with love and the mercy of the Christ which brings Creation back into the community of the Creator.
Pray this prayer often; let it touch you deeply.

Deeply Resented and the Beatitudes

"ask and you will receive; knock and the door will open to you; see so that you may believe."

There are phrases that the people of the West have heard so often until they're trite. They have become  caricatures, without specific meaning.
Yet the Bible tells us the Christ did say them, did instruct by them, and the Christ Way consists of them and others. For Jesus, the Christ, they were the new thinking, the way to lead from God, the Father.
So today, instead of sentences, the Simple Mind writes here mostly in phrases, ideas actually. These are some of the most essential of all the Christ's teachings, thoughts for all true disciples to strive towards.

First of all, the Good News tells us that we must ask; we are required to ask. Asking is part of listening and listening is a critical part of the voluntaries often called 'free will.' So we must ask--ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you; see so that you may believe.
The reluctance to heed these commandments for those persons who do not, gives an indication that they may well be some one who wishes to be seen as taking either the socially superior or inferior position.
Thus the person who for example, insists on always giving but not receiving, refusing even, is at the same time someone who will not allow the balance to be restored or maintained by reciprocity. They refuse to balance between giver and receiver.

Only when there are both givers and receivers, often one in the same, can a community be established; without this balance, deep resentment often arises between giver and receiver. The Christ recognizes this; he refuses to be caught on this point. Instead, he commands his disciples to think and to behave in the way of love for one another; so feed the hungry; give them drink; clothe the naked; be kind to the stranger; visit the sick or those in prison; bury the dead. Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful.

And there is the ongoing spiritual work that the Christ calls his disciples to-- correcting those in error; educating the ignorant; counseling those in doubt or confusion; comfort for those in sorrow; bearing wrongs patiently; forgiving the wrongs done by others; pray for the living and the dead, unceasingly.

And again, numerous times the Christ reminds aspiring disciples, of just this-- if you love me, you will keep my commandments; love one another as I have loved you; the greatest commandment is love.

Hope for the Modern World

"Be not afraid. Come, follow me..." Jesus to his disciples, Pope John Paul II to the world

 If there is any message of hope in the modern world for the followers of the Christ, it is this: there is a limit, and this limit has to do with the mercy of God.  There is a limit imposed upon evil in the world, in history, wrote Pope John Paul II as he recalled his youth in Poland under Russian domination. In secret he studied to become a priest.

Despite all our fears, of the human capacity for evil and wickedness, or the confusion of our own hearts, we need not be afraid for God loves. Indeed God is love itself. In Christianity there is the great teaching, the revelation that a being, a creator existed for love, in love with all that was created; this being was Gospel, the 'good news.' In a largely joyless, suffering world of oppression and hatred, the future Pope found joy. In the community of Christians, he felt joy so large that he felt compelled to share; this brought him to his vocation as a priest. He went forth to share this good news. Joylessness turned to hopefulness for the young priest from Poland.

In the modern, industrialized West, threats to human happiness take subtler forms than for those who suffer unjust governments. They threaten the Spirit, the Community no less than overt acts of evil. 
And yet there is the Christ, whose message is taken up by followers throughout the world, all parts of the world, not only in the West. It is a universal message of hope, of peace, of love, faithful love.
Saint John, the disciple, writes of the radiant, burning love made visible in the incarnation of the Christ. The Holy Spirit comes down from above to kindle the hearts of ordinary men so that this love is made visible, tangible and real. 

This love is the ordinary love of the Creator. It is not the love of hearts and candy, romantic and fickle.  "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life..." 1John1:1

Be Merciful

Kind and Generous
by Nathalie Merchant
Listen Here
You've been so kind and generous
I don't know if I can give it
for your kindness, I'm in debt to you
for your selflessness, my admiration
for everything you've done, you know I'm bound
I'm bound to thank you for it...

You've been so kind and generous
I don't know if I can keep on giving
for your kindness I'm in debt to you
and I never could have come this far without you...

for everything you've done you know I'm bound
I'm bound to thank you for it...

I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave with love and tenderness
I want to thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity, the love and the honesty that you gave me...

I want to thank and show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you...

I want to thank you
I want to thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank
you...

"Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful." --Bible, Luke 6:36. We don't often experience mercy directly. It seems so out of the everydayness of life--so dramatic. And it is. Yet most all faiths and certainly, the biblical writer, Saint Luke thought about it enough to write on the subject. In most traditions, and also in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the understanding of mercy is deeply akin to the understanding of compassionate love.

A long time ago it was the experience given to me to understand this deeply for the first time, in my young, twenty-something life. I made a dear friend in college. However over time, there was a parting of the ways. A long time passed, more than 15 years, marriages and children to boot. One day while driving, the Natalie Merchant song Kind and Generous came over the radio. In my Simple Mind, I was so well taken back to that time long ago. I meditated on it many months, each time the hearing of this song set me to thought, and I thought.

Eventually I knew what it was to teach me. Now more than 18 years passed and we met again; it was a momentary oneness to my great surprise, and a gift. While I deserved less, my friend gave me more; while I deserved contempt, my friend showed compassion. From a deeply religious family, my friend learned, perhaps, long before me, that mercy is great and its loving kindness is long.
 My friend named his child after me--unbeknown to me before the day we met again. I felt then the blinding, white grace of God's mercy.

Peace to all. Be merciful, for your Lord, God is merciful.