Gracious and Merciful

October 7, 2009

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

"I beseech you, LORD," he prayed, "is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish. And now, LORD, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live." Jonah 4:2-3

"When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." Luke 11:2-4

Piety

You are my God; pity me, Lord; to you I call all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant; to you, Lord, I lift up my soul. Lord, you are kind and forgiving, most loving to all who call on you. LORD, hear my prayer; listen to my cry for help. In this time of trouble I call, for you will answer me. Psalm 86:3-7

Study

The Gospel reading starts off today with Jesus at prayer…but again, Luke does not initially reveal the contents or context of the communication between Jesus and the Father. However, when prompted, Jesus teaches the disciples about how to pray as a community.

The prayer method introduced here closely follows the words directed at God by Jesus in Luke 10: “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

It starts off acknowledging a relationship with and faith in God and then moves to praise for all the Lord has provided. The Lord’s Prayer in the short form presented in Luke 11 parallels the slightly longer version popular today. The prayer phrases give us great summaries of the three theological virtues and the four cardinal virtues as well as a condensed view of what is in the Gospels.

Our Father who art in heaven.

The prayer opens by establishing us in a relationship with the Abba (daddy) as a loving parent. Addressing God as “Our Father” shows that we have entered into a special, close, holy and loving relationship with him where he dwells and God has entered into a relationship with us where we are.

Hallowed be your name.

We then move on to express the principal components of our faith. Because of our belief and trust in God’s character and work, we know that his name and all he does is holy.

Your Kingdom come.

Building on our faith, we also express our hope, anticipating the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Your will be done, on earth as in heaven

God’s will is that we love him and love our neighbor in the present moment. By teaching us to call for this, Jesus desires that we share in his plan to desire the highest good for others expressed in our compassionate action.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Jesus wants us to ask our Father for what we need…but only what we need and no more. This reflects the first of the cardinal virtues -- temperance or moderation and self-control.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Justice -- fairness, honesty, truthfulness, integrity – is the next cardinal virtue. We ask the Father for the forgiveness He will freely provide and in turn, promise to forgive others and treat all life with the same respect and dignity we expect.

Lead us not into temptation.

Through prudence granted by the Father, we will gain the wisdom, discernment, clear thinking and common sense to take on all that the world throws in our general direction.

But deliver us from evil.

With the gift of fortitude, we will have the courage and conviction to be protected from the evil in the world. These last three phrases summarize the “final test.”

Action

For a longer look at how The Lord’s Prayer perfectly reflects the Cursillo movement and our Fourth Day journey, check out this reflection on the Arlington Cursillo web site:

http://www.arlingtoncursillo.org/Witness/Cursillo%20Our%20Father.htm

Consider how this prayer not only unifies the Cursillo movement, but also how it unifies all the Church and all Christians. At a time when there is a Synod on Africa; the tenth anniversary of an hisptioric agreements between Catholics, Methodists and Lutherans; and a new statement on dialogue with the Jewish community, maybe we should focus on catholic with a small "c."