Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

The adoration of the Cross directs us to a commitment that we cannot shirk. It is the mission that St. Paul expressed in these words: “In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the Church.” (Col 1:24) I also offer my sufferings so that God’s plan may be completed and his Word spread among the peoples.

–John Paul II in a message to the participants in the Way of the Cross, Good Friday, 25 March 2005 from Silence Transformed into Life: The Testament of His Final Year

The Magnificat is followed by silence. Nothing is said to us about the three months that Mary stayed with her kinswoman Elizabeth. Yet perhaps we are told the most important thing: that goodness works quietly, the power of love is expressed in the unassuming quietness of daily service. 

Homily by John Paul II, 15 August 2004 from Silence Transformed into Life: The Testament of His Final Year

After studying for the priesthood in Reims, France, and Valladolid, Spain Robert Drury, of Buckinghamshire, England, was ordained at the age of twenty-six. Returning to England, he labored largely in London. Father Drury was arrested in the summer of 1606. After being condemned to death for his priesthood, he was offered a pardon if he agreed to take a new oath of allegiance, proffered by the regime of King James I, with subtle wording tailored to deceive Catholics. The oath had been formulated in part by an apostate Jesuit. Father Drury refused to take the oath, and in fact carried in his pocker a letter from another priest condemning it. On February 26, 1607, Father Drury was put to death by drawing and quartering at the London Execution site of Tyburn. The thirty-nine-year-old priest is said to have exhibited great fortitude in his final agony.

In case you are interested in some more reading: English Post-Reformation Oaths and as always, this is publication worth subscribing to Magnificat

Matthew 6: 5-13 (NAB) “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 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 in heaven, hallowed be your name,  your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.

‘Babble’ is significantly different than ‘vain repetitions’ which made it really unnecessary for me to ask “Why is it that the most important word translated in that passage is ‘repetition’?” So I thought to use a more commonly used Protestant translation so I could ask that question. So here are the relevant verses in a widely used Protestant translation the New International Version.

Matthew 6: 7-8 (NIV)  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 

Well that left me still unable to ask that question for this blog entry…Why is it that based on every interaction I have ever had with a Protestant regarding this passage of scripture they seem to argue from the atndpoint that the most important word in that passage is ‘repetition’? What about the word it is translated from? ‘Battologeo‘ Is it a word that means mere ‘repetition’ and ‘vain’ is simply a modifier that helps us to see that repetition itself is not strictly prohibited? (Such as that we see in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asks repeatedly for the cup to be taken from him, and in the Parable of the Persistent Widow where Jesus praises perseverance in prayer, or in Revelation 4:8 where we see the angels in heaven surrounding the Altar and ETERNALLY singing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.”) It seems while the King James version uses ‘vain repetitions’ to translate that word. The New American Standard uses ‘meaningless repetitions’,  the Wycliffe New Testament translates the concept ‘do not speak much’…uh-oh…how do you balance THAT with ‘pray unceasingly’? However, if equally valid translations of that passage use the word ‘babble’ or ’stammer’, or ’speak not much’ perhaps the word ‘repetition’ isn’t the essential component of the meaning of that passage? 

Perhaps a clearer understanding might be gained by not focusing on a single word?  It seems to me that phrases such as ‘like the heathens’ or ‘like the pagans’? add quite a bit to the meaning of these verses. Can Our Lord truly be speaking against repeatedly using memorized prayers when He so clearly distinguishes between the Jewish culture and the pagan one? Wouldn’t an equally apt  name for the Psalms be “The Jewish Book of Common Prayer”? Ancient religious Jewish culture was steeped with the use of memorized prayers. Prayers and Psalms said upon arising, upon washing one’s hands, upon eating, at various times throughout the day, upon retiring….. So if Jesus was speaking against repeated, memorized prayers why contrast with the pagans? Why not the religious Jews if that was what He was speaking against? And why then in almost the same breath go on to teach the disciples a prayer? Why not just say to the disciples “you don’t need my help just pray from your heart”? I wonder if that is because our hearts are so filthy (Proverbs 23:33 …your heart utters disordered thoughts…) and we need the help of divinely inspired prayers such as those we find in Sacred Scripture…The Psalms, The Canticle of Mary (My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord….), The Canticle of Zachariah (Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel…), The Canticle of Simeon (Now let thy servant go in peace….)… to help us know what we should be praying? Certainly, my sinfulness leaves me less than in perfect communication with the Holy Spirit so is it sinful for me to lean on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit found in Sacred Scripture? Or from the inspiration of other holy men and women? Is it substantially different for me as a Catholic to say “St. so-and-so prayed with these words and I find them helpful as well…” to a Protestant who says “my pastor has advised me to…”? Is it only in the matter of prayer where we must lean on our heart alone? Why is it that the Protestant distinctive of ‘sola scriptura‘ (that scripture is to be the sole rule of faith) does not apply to praying with the use of scripture since after all, the ‘repetitive’ prayers that I have been told so many times are WRONG are taken directly from scripture itself (The Our Father (the person I quoted above specifically spoke against the Our Father), The Canticle of Mary, The Misere, The Canticle of Simeon, etc.)?

Matthew 6: 7-8 [Douay-Rheims] And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard. Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him.

Perhaps it comes down to why a person is praying? Is there a difference between the reasons we get on our knees? As I have meditated on this passage of scripture in the many different translations that I have referenced, it seems to me to be folly to concentrate on the meaning of the one word ‘Battologeo‘ and how many repetitions it takes before it becomes ‘babble’ or ’stuttering’ without taking into account that Our Lord also said ‘as the heathens’ and then goes on to give the disciples a prayer instead of telling them to just pray from the heart. But MOST of all I think it is crucial not to ignore this part “For they think that in their much speaking they be heard.”

“For they think that in their much speaking they be heard.” All of the translations that I read said it similarly. The crucial thing to balance against the ‘babble’ or the ‘meaningless’ or ‘vain repetitions’ was a heart issue. “For they think that in their much speaking they be heard.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I confess to Almighty God and to YOU that I know I am heard by Our Lord every time I open my mouth. I am heard by Our Lord when I would rather He NOT hear me. I am heard by Our Lord when I speak and in the silence of my heart. I go to Him in prayer because it is good for ME and because He commanded it. I put my needs before Our Lord not because He needs to hear them but because it helps to keep me focused on the source of all grace in my life. I go to Our Lord in prayer because it opens ME up to His working in my life and I need that. I go to Our Lord in prayer because I am supposed to ‘pray unceasingly’ and I am a long ways from that and if I am going to get even close to praying unceasingly I am going to need some help and frankly, I am likely to say the same thing more than once.  I stand in awe of and teeter on the verge of covetousness for those whose heart is so pure that their thoughts are always raised to the Lord and they do not need the assistance of memorized prayers, scripture, and/or the words of other holy men and women to help them reach out to Our Lord in unceasing prayer. I spent more years than I can count trying to pray unceasingly with my own *heartfelt prayers….I can say that they were not ‘babble’ but ‘drivel’ is apt assessment. It wasn’t until I let go of my pride and used the assistance of memorized prayers that my own *heartfelt ones (and let me just be clear there are lots of those as well) became something other than drivel and….to my amazement….began to move towards that ‘unceasing’ mark (although I am still a long ways from that goal).

May I ask for some Christian charity on the part of my Protestant brothers and sisters? It is those memorized, repeated prayers that have lifted me from a dead prayer life. My own efforts to develop a living prayer life without them met with repeated and abject failure. I suspect that there may be others like me out there. If your prayer life is all that you and the Lord would have it to be without memorized and repeated prayers, I salute you. I am not advocating that you should change a thing. I am telling you, that my heart is so sinful and impure that I need help. I will respect (although disagree with) your opinion that I am using crutches in my prayer life. And if you think that I am using crutches in my prayer life, would you please stop trying to kick them out from under me and those like me?

*as if a memorized prayer can’t be ‘heartfelt.’ Why is it that so many people seem to assume that memorized prayers do not express the heart of those who use them? If I had a nickel for every tear I shed while using the words of Psalm 51 to pray I’d be able to buy something very nice indeed.

I have friend who likes Sr. Martha. I do too. After all what’s not to like about someone who make a discussion of sin as funny as a Near Occasion of Fudge? But I must say that I have a small disagreement with her stance on Lenten sacrifice (Plans for Lent and Reverse Lent) and while I am linking to her posts specifically, I’ve heard other similar sentiments and I disagree with them too.  In a recent email to a Yahoo group for those on the journey to
Rome (join us at the Catholic Spitfire Grill  we’re a lot of fun) someone posted about the homily her pastor had given regarding the shallowness of just giving up sweets for Lent. He said that it was ok for children but that the grown-ups had better do something “better.” Almost immediately two of our members emailed the loop with sentiments along the line of  “Well I guess I screwed THAT up!” Now I know the stories of these two women and right now they are walking, talking, living, breathing, poster children for genuine pick-up-your-cross-and-follow-me Christian living.  They have spent the last year in deep prayer, and intense study as they have followed Our Lord’s leading to Rome. This move has involved genuine and real sacrifice. They have lost friends. They have split their families. One of the women has more than one vitriolicly anti-Catholic clergy member in it.  There have been visits to their homes (and email campaigns and phone campaigns) to inform them that they are going to Hell for becoming Catholic. They are attending a new church now and still struggling to learn what’s going on. They still feel lost with the kneeling, and the standing, and what to do when it’s time for Holy Communion and they have to stay behind and feel like the neon sign just went on over their heads saying “Former Protestant Heretic” In a real and substantive way, these women are already in the desert.

 Now if it makes me a “huggy New Ager, ‘let’s feel good about ourselves, please does someone have a guitar? Mass is about to start’”-type Catholic to say to these women, “You are already sacrificing enough right now and perhaps a token Lenten sacrifice is just perfect for you.” then, sweetie pass me the guitar because I feel a chorus of “Kum-Ba-Yah” coming on.

What about giving up sin for Lent? I can certainly see Sr. Martha’s point that giving up sin for Lent only to start back up again after Lent is hardly appropriate. I can tell you what my response to my loving husband would be if he were to announce, “Honey, I’m giving up adultery for Lent.” Of course, I’d have to go to Confession not only for the response but also for simply telling you about it. I’d probably have to do prison time as well.  But let’s back up and look at it again with a little more of God’s Grace shall we? What if you had some sort of sin that had a serious grip on your life? Gluttony? Anger? Judgmentalism? Sloth? Impurity? Know anybody with problems like that? (Me either. All of my friends are perfect.) But hypothetically speaking, what if you had some kind of sin that Our Lord had shown you really needed to be dealt with? Let’s pick gluttony because so few Americans have a problem with that one.  [snort.] What if your Lenten sacrifice….giving up sweets for example….was part of a larger effort to break the stronghold that gluttony had in your life? What if you said, “I’m giving up sweets.” but really meant “I’m working on the grip that gluttony has on my life.”? What if you gave up sweets and meditated on scriptures having to do with the sin of gluttony (memorized them even?) and made time to seek out regular sacramental confession to focus on gluttony in your life? Wouldn’t breaking the stronghold of that sin with the help of Our Lord, the prayers of Our Lady, the Sacraments of the Church AND the boost of some self-sacrifice be a truly joyful way to enter into the Easter season? Sounds like new life to me!

So what do I think about Lenten sacrifices?….I know you are dying to know. I think that just as we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation with an Examination of Conscience guided by the Holy Spirit, I also think we should approach the season of Lent with a similarly divinely guided self-examination.  Lent should always be a challenge but if we honestly seek Our Lord’s guidance (both in prayer and if we are lucky with a formal spiritual director) then perhaps we can dispense with having to listen to others tell us what is and is not an appropriate Lenten sacrifice.  I think that the goal of breaking a stronghold of sin in our lives is every bit as good a reason to formulate a plan of self-sacrifice as is building up some worthy spiritual virtue.  I also think we should not indulge in the sin of spiritual pride by undertaking an overly rigorous observance of Lent (ie undertaking a sacrifice that is considered pleasing by (or to please)  someone who is NOT familiar with our personal spiritual place)  if Our Lord has indicated that He has other plans….particularly if He already has us in the desert for another reason.
 While I think it is important to encourage our brothers and sisters in faith to stretch their spiritual muscles, I think it is equally important to consider how our enthusiasm might cause pain to those who are already stretching exactly where and how they need to be.

Pass the guitar….I’m going to sing Kum-Ba-Yah.

And in honor of not telling people what to do for Lent, let me share this resource and tell you that you really NEED to check it out: Readings From the Early Church Fathers For Lent

Before thy throne, O God, we kneel:
Give us a conscience quick to feel, A ready mind to understand The meaning of thy chast’ning hand;What e’er the pain and shame may be,Bring us, O Father, nearer to thee. Search out our hears and make us true;Help us to give to all their due. From love of pleasure, lust of gold, From sin which make the heart grow cold, Wean us and train us with thy rod. Teach us to know our faults, O God. For sins of heedless word and deed, For pride ambitious to succeed, For crafty trade and subtle snare To catch the simply unaware For live bereft of purpose high,

Forgive, forgive, O Lord, we cry.

 

From July 20, 2006 issue of the Magnificat and after reading this all I was left with was the burning question, “What could God do in my life, if I wasn’t afraid of the shame of my most egregious sins?” Wouldn’t it be best to be wrong and get it over with and go on to live what remains of my time here on earth in the best way possible, than to shrink from knowing that I haven’t been perfect to this point? What could He do, if I didn’t shrink from the shame? (And if Blog.com would format the stupid thing the way I TELL it to…it would look like poems are SUPPOSED to look but for now, I give up trying to format it properly!)

James Fenn, of Montacute, England was expelled from Oxford’s Corpus Christi College for having refused to take the Elizabethan regime’s anti-papal oath of supremacy. He subsequently became a schoolteacher, married, and had two children. But after the death of his wife, James resolved to consecrate the remainder of his life to God in the priesthood. Following his ordingation in Reims, France, Father Fenn returned to England in 1580. After having persuaded many to return to the Catholic faith, he was captured by the Elizabethan authorities. During his two-year-long imprisonment, Father Fenn spiritually ministered to those incarcerated with him, especially pirates and other criminals sentenced to death. The conversions he wrought included a notorious felon. On February 7, 1584, Father Fenn was condemed to death by drawing and quartering for being a priest. Five days later, as he was about to be dragged on a hurdle to his execution, his young daughter ran to him. The martyr gave the weeping child his paternal and priestly blessing before parting from her.

The “Saints of Today and Yesterday” feature in the Magnificat is an excellent way to learn about the persecution of the Catholic Church through the centuries. I highly recommend subscribing.

Once again my blog is providing me an outlet to ask those questions that leap unbidden to my mind but might cause too much trouble if I asked them on the Protestant homeschooling forum I spend so much time on. As I indicated in an earlier post it’s been quite the week (or more) on that board. My Catholic sisters and I have spent a considerable amount of time defending Catholic practices and Marian doctrines and the area where the two intersect. My Catholic sisters and I have been told repeatedly that bowing is worship. When we point out that in Sacred Scripture that bowing does not always equal worship, we are told that well it might not always be worship but that they will never bow except in worship to the One True God.

So I’m led to this question. If they (these Protestants who have told me that) never bow except in worship to the One True God; then, where is it that they do that in their worship services? I have been to hundreds and hundreds of Protesant worship services.  Not. One. Time. Have I ever bowed in adoration, in humility, in respect, or anything else….much less worship.

Perhaps those who do not bow at all should stop telling those of us who do what it means.