We're All God's Children
Oct. 9: Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today, we hear Luke’s version of the Our Father. There’s some debate about the translation of the final line, but since I don’t speak Greek, I’m not in a position to weigh in. I found this article interesting, though.
Reading 1
Gal 2:1-2, 7-14
Brothers and sisters: After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. I went up in accord with a revelation, and I presented to them the Gospel that I preach to the Gentiles—but privately to those of repute—so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.
On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter to the circumcised, for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the circumcised worked also in me for the Gentiles, and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, we were to be mindful of the poor, which is the very thing I was eager to do.
And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong. For, until some people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all, "If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
Peter (who Paul calls Cephas here) had been preaching in Antioch and sharing meals with Gentiles. But when some of James’ (Jewish) friends arrived, Peter distanced himself from the non-Jews.
That’s why Paul gets in his face.1 Paul recognizes that Peter was called to lead the Church, and especially to preach to Jewish converts to Christianity. But Paul’s calling was to preach to the Gentiles and the wider world.
We’re all Christians, and all should be welcome.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 117:1bc, 2
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
Praise the LORD, all you nations,
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
Paul was a devote Jew (which is why he was persecuting Christians, initially). He definitely would’ve been aware of Psalms like this. After his conversion, I bet he read them very differently, now seen as a command to spread the Gospel.
Alleluia
Rom 8:15bc
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
“Father” is very formal in modern English, but abbā is a more familiar term, closer to “daddy” (without the infantilization of the speaker). There’s no record of anyone addressing God like this before Jesus; the parent/child relationship was a new revelation in the first century.
Gospel
Lk 11:1-4
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "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."
It was pointed out to me in grade school, when we were first learning about the Our Father, that in the context of this reading, Jesus seems to be speaking off the cuff. He seems to be saying, “Pray like this,” not “Say literally this, word for word.”
Still, we Christians decided to memorize it,2 and pass it on exactly as-is for thousands of years. We, especially Catholics, like to codify things.
But that’s not how you would talk to your father, your abbā. It’s okay to speak from your heart, rather than a memorized prayer, too. Jesus gives a good outline—praise God, accept his plan, ask for your petition.
And it’s always good to ask for forgiveness in there, somewhere. You may not have heard Jonah coming through your town, calling for repentance, but we all need it, anyway.
That’s why Luke ends the pray with “do not subject us to the final test.” Peter failed in welcoming the whole Christian community, something we’re all tempted to do from time to time.
We definitely don’t want to fail that final exam.
Whatever God tests us with, however, we know with certainty we can’t pass it alone. We also know God doesn’t want us to fail. He plans for us to succeed; pray that His will be done in that and every other case.
Peter was especially hypocritical, given that he had been dining with the Gentiles before backing away.