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Thursday, September 21, 2000
Fni ill Aliw
The Southern Cross, Page 9
The Deuteronomy connection
By Father Eugene LaVerdiere, SSS
Catholic News Service
n
nee when Jesus was praying in
a certain place, a disciple said: “Lord,
teach us to pray just as John taught his
disciples” (Luke 11:1).
Jesus responded with the Lord’s
Prayer. “When you pray, say: ‘Father,
hallowed be your name, your kingdom
come ...” (Luke 11:2).
Jesus not only taught the words of
the Lord’s Prayer. He also taught his
disciples the spirit of prayer.
The spirit of the Lord’s Prayer came
from the whole Bible, especially from
the Psalms, the ancient canticles and
the Israelite creed. Like the creed, the
Psalms came from the faith of the Isra
elites.
Like other Jews, Jesus knew the
Psalms from his childhood. The Israel
ite traditional creed was embedded in
his memory.
Imagine Jesus praying. We can hear
Jesus singing psalms, inviting every
one to sing a hymn of praise and
thanksgiving: “Praise the name of the
Lord” (Psalm 135:1). He knew his Fa
ther intimately. Jesus called his Fa
ther by name.
After the Last Supper, Jesus with his
disciples sang a hymn of praise. Accord
ing to the Jewish tradition, they sang one
of the five hallel psalms (Psalms 114-118).
If they sang Psalm 116, Jesus surely
remembered his mother: “Lord, I am
your servant,... the child of your maidser
vant” (Psalm 116:16).
Today, we can sing the same hymn
in the spirit of Jesus, thanking God for
his wonderful gifts.
Imagine Jesus going up to Jerusa
lem, singing: “Come, bless the Lord, all
you servants of the Lord.... May the
Lord who made heaven and earth bless
you” (Psalm 134).
Jesus was the ultimate servant of
the Lord. In him, we are humble ser
vants of the Lord.
Imagine Jesus on the cross crying
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“Praise the Lord, who is so good; God’s
love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).
Like the prophets, Jesus absorbed
the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
from the traditional creed. It is embed
ded in a thanksgiving liturgy in the
Book of Deuteronomy.
—The creed starts with the first per
son singular: “My father was a wander
ing Aramean who went down to Egypt
with a small household and lived there as
an alien. But there he became a nation
great, strong and numerous” (26:5).
Like every Israelite and every Jew,
the early Christians personally relived
the experiences of their ancestors. Like
the Jewish people, we have a historical
faith, based on events that happened
long ago. That is why Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob were very important
throughout the New Testament as well
as the Old Testament.
With Jesus, we are the children of
Abraham and Sarah.
—The same creed continues with
the first person plural: “When the
Egyptians maltreated and oppressed
us, imposing hard labor upon us, we
cried to the Lord, the God of our fa
thers, and he heard our cry and saw
our affliction, our toil and our oppres
sion” (Deuteronomy 26:6-7).
For every Israelite, what happens to
one person happens to everyone in the
community. They prayed the creed as a
people or family of God.
—The creed concludes with God’s sal
vation: ‘He brought us out of Egypt....
And bringing us into this country, he
gave us this land flowing with milk and
honey” (Deuteronomy 26:8-9).
1. Their faith was based on God’s
historical saving acts.
2. Their love, or charity, was based
on their present relationship to the
community.
3. Their hope was a byproduct of
their faith and their trusting love.
(Blessed Sacrament Father La
Verdiere is a Scripture scholar and
senior editor of Emmanuel magazine.)
In 0 Nutshell
“Thepatriarchs,
prophets and certain
other Old Testament
figures... always will
be honored as saints in
all the church’s
liturgical traditions,”
says the Catechism of
the Catholic Church
(No. 61).
Understanding the
Christian faith’s
Jewish roots is
essential for
understanding the New
Testament and for
reading Scripture in
ways that leave no
room for anti-Jewish
sentiments, said Jesuit
Father Albert Vanhoye,
Pontifical Biblical
Commissionsecretary.
Prophetic literature can be dangerous!
By Theresa Sanders
Catholic News Service
w
hen we hear the word
“prophet,” we usually think of some
one who can foretell the future. In the
Bible, though, the role of the prophet
is simply to speak for God. Many of
the Hebrew prophets begin their pro
nouncements by declaring, “Thus
says the Lord!” Sometimes speaking
for God involves predicting what will
happen. More often, however, it
means calling people back to a life
that God wants for them.
The prophets spoke both to ordi
nary people and to kings, comforting
the afflicted and afflicting the comfort
able. In many cases, their work in
volved considerable danger. After all,
no one likes to hear that he or she is
violating the commands of God, and
the prophets left quite a number of
angry people in their wake.
Jeremiah, for example, warned
King Zedekiah that Jerusalem was
going to fall to the Babylonians be
cause of people’s sinfulness. Instead of
thanks, what Jeremiah got was a
death sentence. He was thrown into a
cistern and left to die of hunger; only
when the king relented was Jeremiah
saved.
Scholars often distinguish between
the biblical books attributed to major
Miriam as a prophet when she dances
and sings the praises of God. Deborah,
Huldah and Noadiah are also honored
as women who speak for the Lord.
Reading the prophetic literature is
FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE
What about the Old Testament most interests or inspires you? Why?
“I would say the Psalms because they’re important in the prayers of the
church and also because they reflect human life with all of its joys and sorrows.”
— Robert Siler, Moses Lake, Wash.
“The honesty of the portrayal of the faults and human emotions of the
principal figures of the Old Testament: Moses doubted; David committed
adultery; Adam sinned. The good people of the Old Testament had faults.... Also,
the Old Testament goes into great psychological depth — the Psalms, primarily.
It... may be the founding literature of depth psychology.” — Father Joseph
Ponessa, Glendive, Mont.
“To me, the story of Job is probably the most inspiring story of the Old
Testament. After everything Job went through, God was still there. This mes
sage of covenantal love is very much needed in today’s world.” — Greg Layton,
Baraboo, Wis.
“What I can relate to most about the Old Testament is the history that it
teaches us.” — Mary Ann Whitbrodt, Bay City, Mich.
An upcoming edition asks: What do the people of your world fear or doubt
most? Can your faith address this fear or doubt? If you would like to respond
for possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E.,
Washington, D.C. 20017-1100.
CNS photo of Elijah’s duel with priests of Baal by Bill Wittman
prophets and those named after minor
prophets.
—The major prophets are Isaiah,
Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
—The minor prophets, who are called
“minor” not because they are not impor
tant but because the
books attributed to
them are relatively
short, are Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,
Micah, Nahum, Ha-
bakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi.
In addition, there are
many men in the Bible
who do not have books
named after them but
are
he prophets
not afraid to point out
people’s sins and to
warn them of the con
sequences that might
follow.”
who nonetheless are called prophets be
cause they speak the word of God. These
include, among others, Moses, Elijah and
Elisha.
In addition, four women also are
given the title of “prophet.” The Book
of Exodus describes Aaron’s sister
important because often it tells us what
we need to hear but do not want to
hear. The prophets speak up for the
poor and the oppressed, reminding us
that God is on the side of justice. They
are not afraid to point out people’s sins
and to warn them of
the consequences that
might follow. They
look straight into
people’s hearts and
tell them when they
are lying to them
selves.
In short, reading
prophetic literature
can be dangerous! It
can force us to exam
ine our own lives to
see where we are not living up to the
love, mercy, truth and righteousness
that God both offers and demands.
(Sanders is an assistant professor
of theology at Georgetown Univer
sity.)