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Showing posts with the label Our Father

"Hallowed Be..." Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B

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Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America (Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25) Every time we recite the Lord’s Prayer, we say, "Hallowed be thy name". This is raised as a concern by Our Lady of La Salette, in two distinct contexts. First, she expresses her sadness at the abuse of her Son’s name. Later, she encourages the children to say at least an Our Father and a Hail Mary in their night and morning prayers. This is also her way of reminding us of the Commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Interestingly, the notion of “hallow” occurs in the next commandment: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Our Lady reminds us of this commandment as well. ‘Hallow’ and ‘holy’ are what linguists call cognate words. Like ‘strengthen’ and ‘strong,’ one is a verb and the other an adjective to express the same idea. In the Gospel, Jesus was angry that the Temple, his Father’s house, was being turned

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, February 21, 2021, Year B

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Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) You and I have prayed The Lord’s Prayer countless numbers of times. In it we always ask God to “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Some translations of that famous prayer have it “and subject us not into the trial.” Just what is it that we are praying for? Well obviously there are various levels of temptation — some powerful and severe, others not so powerful and not so grave (not weighted with much gravity). Some temptations are of the flesh. Some temptations are of the spirit. Some involve passion… others involve cold calculation. Whatever a temptation’s quality or type may be, at whatever level, it is always a time of testing. Our resolve, our spiritual muscle, is being tested. And if our character is spiritually weak and flabby, without any muscle power at all, we will be a pushover for the devil. Jesus also had His times of trail. The first we know about was during His ti

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, March 1, 2020, Year A

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Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” I have often pondered over the meaning of those final words in the Lord’s Prayer and I want to pay some attention to them with you today. Throughout the centuries there has been any number of translations of the original Hebrew words that Jesus used when He taught the Lord’s Prayer. For instance, most of the original translations did not say “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Instead the phrase was translated as, “And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”  By the way, as an aside, just when or why the word “trespass” was substituted for the word “sin” is unknown to me. As for the phrase “but deliver us from evil” other ancient translations render it as: “And deliver us from the time of trial.” Still others render it “deliver us from the time of testing.” That being the case,

Homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2, 2020, Year A

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Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) Every couple of years I like to read my One Year Bible. This is one of those years. Just this past Friday, I read the following in Exodus 13: “Consecrate to me every firstborn.” Every firstborn animal had to be sacrificed to God. A donkey could be “ransomed” with a sheep; and “Every human firstborn of your sons you must ransom.” Remember that Moses was leading God’s people to Canaan, a land where child sacrifice was not unheard of. God was stating emphatically: DON’T DO THAT! The “purification” mentioned in the beginning of today’s Gospel refers to the period after childbirth when a woman could not even enter the temple, not because she was in any way “dirty,” but because she had incurred ritual “uncleanness” due to loss of blood. After that time, she would offer a lamb and a turtledove or pigeon; or, if she couldn’t afford a lamb, two turtledoves

"Hallowed Be..." A Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B

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By Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America (Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25) Every time we recite the Lord’s Prayer, we say, "Hallowed be thy name". This is raised as a concern by Our Lady of La Salette, in two distinct contexts. First, she expresses her sadness at the abuse of her Son’s name. Later, she encourages the children to say at least an Our Father and a Hail Mary in their night and morning prayers. This is also her way of reminding us of the Commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Interestingly, the notion of “hallow” occurs in the next commandment: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Our Lady reminds us of this commandment as well. ‘Hallow’ and ‘holy’ are what linguists call cognate words. Like ‘strengthen’ and ‘strong,’ one is a verb and the other an adjective to express the same idea. In the Gospel, Jesus was angry that the Temple, his Father’

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, February 18, 2018, Year B

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Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) You and I have prayed The Lord’s Prayer countless numbers of times. In it we always ask God to “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Some translations of that famous prayer have it “and subject us not into the trial.” Just what is it that we are praying for? Well obviously there are various levels of temptation — some powerful and severe, others not so powerful and not so grave (not weighted with much gravity). Some temptations are of the flesh. Some temptations are of the spirit. Some involve passion… others involve cold calculation. Whatever a temptation’s quality or type may be, at whatever level, it is always a time of testing. Our resolve, our spiritual muscle, is being tested. And if our character is spiritually weak and flabby, without any muscle power at all, we will be a pushover for the devil. Jesus also had His times of trail. The first we know about w

Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 21, 2018, Year B

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Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) All three readings today contain a proclamation. Jonah: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” St. Paul: “The time is running out.” Jesus: “The kingdom of God is at hand.” The kingdom of God is a major recurring theme in the New Testament, making its appearance well over fifty times. Its equivalent, “the kingdom of heaven,” occurs over thirty times. There are several other variants as well, such as: “Of his kingdom there shall be no end,” near the beginning of Luke’s Gospel and, near the end of the same Gospel: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” A very famous instance, of course, is in the Our Father, where Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” We might ask ourselves two questions. 1) What does this petition in the Lord’s Prayer mean in general? 2) What does it mean to me, to each of us

Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus

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January 3rd the Church celebrates the optional memorial of the Most Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus. The Church reveals to us the wonders of the Incarnate Word by singing the glories of His name. The name of Jesus means Savior; it had been foretold in a dream to Saint Joseph together with its significance and to the most Blessed Virgin Mary at the time of the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel. Devotion to the Holy Name is deeply rooted in the Sacred Scriptures, especially in the Acts of the Apostles. It was promoted in a special manner by St. Bernard, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. John Capistrano and by the Franciscan Order. It was extended to the whole Church in 1727 during the pontificate of Innocent XIII. January has traditionally been dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus Our Savior. Fr. Pius Parsch observes, "This feast marks no progress in the development of the Church year. It merely embellishes the occasion just observed when the Child received the Name Jesus as had b

Reflection for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A: "Whoever Exalts Himself Will be Humbled."

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Two things stand out in this Sunday’s Gospel account from Matthew. First, Jesus came to serve, not to be served. Second, God’s ways are not the ways of the world. These themes are echoed throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, by patriarchs and prophets, and finally, by the Messiah Himself. Jesus states, "The greatest among you must be your servant" (Matthew 23:11). In our fallen world, the humble and the lowly magnify God’s love. The mighty and the self-righteous enrich only themselves. We must love others selflessly, not use people and love things out of greed and selfishness (as is often the case today). Jesus continues, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (v. 12). To be disciples of Christ, we must follow the Savior’s example. This means emptying ourselves out completely and loving unconditionally, not agreeing with others or confirming them should they sin. On the verge of his Passi

Reflection for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

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This Sunday’s Gospel reading is from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 10. Our Lord instructs the twelve apostles, "Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." (Matthew 10:26-28) The one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna is Satan the devil, king of demons, and of hell. He is the father of lies and a cruel deceiver of men. When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask that God, "... lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The Catechism of the Catholic Church (§2851) states: “In this petition, evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The devil ( dia-bolos ) is the one who 'thr

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, March 5, 2017, Year A

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Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” I have often pondered over the meaning of those final words in the Lord’s Prayer and I want to pay some attention to them with you today. Throughout the centuries there has been any number of translations of the original Hebrew words that Jesus used when He taught the Lord’s Prayer. For instance, most of the original translations did not say “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Instead the phrase was translated as, “And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”  By the way, as an aside, just when or why the word “trespass” was substituted for the word “sin” is unknown to me. As for the phrase “but deliver us from evil” other ancient translations render it as: “And deliver us from the time of trial.” Still others render it “deliver us from the time of testing.” Tha

Fr. Butler's Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 24, 2016, Year C

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Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) About 30 years ago I worked at a seminary. We had a librarian named Sr. Frances. Whenever she would remind me of something I had promised to do, I would answer, “In due time.” To which she always replied with a paraphrase of Luke 16:22: “In due time the beggar died.” Most of us know the type. They ask for something. They remind us the next day. And the next, and the next... Until we do it, convenient or not, just to make it stop! Today’s story of Abraham has a brief prologue that is not included in the lectionary.  “With Abraham walking with them to see them on their way, the men set out from there and looked down toward Sodom. The LORD considered: Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, now that he is to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him? So the LORD said”—and here begins our text, “Th

Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

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Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings ) About 30 years ago I worked at a seminary. We had a librarian named Sr. Frances. Whenever she would remind me of something I had promised to do, I would answer, “In due time.” To which she always replied with a paraphrase of Luke 16:22: “In due time the beggar died.” Most of us know the type. They ask for something. They remind us the next day. And the next, and the next... Until we do it, convenient or not, just to make it stop! Today’s story of Abraham has a brief prologue that is not included in the lectionary.   “With Abraham walking with them to see them on their way, the men set out from there and looked down toward Sodom. The LORD considered: Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, now that he is to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him? So the LORD said”—and here begins our text, “The outcry again