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| “Prayer of the Spinner” by Gerrit Dou, c. 1630 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: Isaiah 55:10-11
Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
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Commentary on Is 55:10-11
This reading represents the conclusion of Isaiah’s exhortation about the new Jerusalem. In these few verses we hear how the word of God must be soaked up by the faithful, as rain is soaked up by the earth. Once it is absorbed it produces the desired result. Similar thought is expressed in the Gospel of St. John in his exhortation on the Eucharist (John 6:32) as the Word come down from heaven.
“The Word comes from God, but it can be heard only when it is soaked up in human life and spoken with human accents. Deutero-Isaiah [Deutero-Isaiah refers to the second half of the book, written during the Babylonian exile] explains world history, particularly the sacred history of Israel, through the deep, omnipotent presence of the Word (cf. Wisdom 8:1; 2 Corinthians 9:10). M.-E. Boismard attributes to this text the immediate origin of the Johannine theology of the Word (St. John's Prologue [Westminster, 1957] 100). We hear its echo in John's doctrine of the Eucharist-the Word come down from heaven and received as bread (John 6:32, 35).” [4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
R. (18b) From all their distress God rescues the just.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
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Commentary on Ps 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
Psalm 34 is a psalm of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Psalm 34:5, 7), can teach the "poor," those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone. The just cry out to the Lord and he hears them and rescues them.
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Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This is how you are to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
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Commentary on Mt 6:7-15
This Gospel passage from St. Matthew actually interrupts the pattern in the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus is clarifying the spirit of the Law regarding almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. In the presentation of the Lord’s Prayer, St. Matthew differs from the presentation by St. Luke (Luke 11; 1-4) in which the Lord was asked by the disciples how to pray. This passage begins by telling the disciples, “do not babble like the pagans.” This may also be critical of the Jewish tradition of presenting long lists of petitions to God for help. The idea is the same: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
“Here, talk ought to be as sparse as water dripping slowly into a deep well: the echo lasts longer than the sound because the drops fall at wide intervals. Words that really count, words that are 'stored up' eternally, are always the product of slow distillation.” [5]
The prayer in St. Matthew has seven petitions (compared to six in St. Luke). The first three are synonymous, asking that God’s ultimate reign at the eschaton be brought to fulfillment. The request for “daily bread” has a couple of possible meanings beyond the obvious. It may be related to the petition in Matthew 6: 31-33 (“So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?'”) and it may also be referring to the Messianic banquet of the Eucharist. Using this interpretation, the fourth petition continues the intent of the first three.
The fifth petition, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” is, in spite of the denominational tradition, best translated as “debts.” In St. Luke’s version, the word used is “sins,” an easier word for non-Jewish readers. Regardless of the transliteration, the precondition for forgiveness given is that we forgive others.
“Lead us not into temptation” is likely not intended to mean our daily encounter with “evil” or the “evil one.” St. Matthew would agree with St. Paul, that God could easily avoid the evil of the world (1 Corinthians 10: 13). Rather the likely meaning would be that we not be led to a great test, that is, despair at the tribulations of the eschaton (the end times). Similarly the final petition, “deliver us from evil,” also would focus on the Christian hope of salvation rather than damnation.
CCC: Mt 6:7 2608, 2668, 2776; Mt 6:8 443, 2736; Mt 6:9-13 1969, 2759, 2759; Mt 6:9 268, 443; Mt 6:10 2632; Mt 6:11 1165, 2659; Mt 6:12 2845; Mt 6:14-16 2792; Mt 6:14-15 2608, 2841
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Reflection:
We can take the reading from Isaiah at face value and understand that the Prophet was saying that his prayer would not be like sand thrown into the wind, that his prayer, his dialogue with God, would bear fruit like rain falling on the crops. Likewise, in the psalm, we give thanks to the Lord for hearing us in our distress. What does he hear? He hears our prayer. Prayers uttered at strange moments, at painful moments, even prayers uttered profanely and unintended are heard. (Think of that the next time you hit your finger with a hammer!)
Scripture brings us to closure on prayer with the story from Matthew about Jesus teaching his disciples to pray using the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern. We begin by giving thanks and praise to God for all his works and all his kindness both now and in eternity. Then we ask for what we need each day, including forgiveness and asking for mercy as we promise to be merciful.
The focus remains the same. We are called to be a people of prayer. Whether structured like the Liturgy of the Hours or short and simple like “God help me, a sinner,” we need to be in constant communication with God. It is the Lord who provides us continual guidance. It is the Lord who leads us down right paths, and it is the Lord who speaks to us in the silence of our heart. It is silence that we often forget. We must spend time listening to what God intends to tell us – as Fr. Pat Egan is fond of saying, “without bullying God into listening to what we want him to say.”
As we continue to grow in discipleship today, we remember that we are called to pray constantly. We ask for the strength to do just that.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Prayer of the Spinner” by Gerrit Dou, c. 1630.
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc.© 1968, 22:49 p. 380.
[5] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 251.
