Article 174 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series
Paragraphs 2663-2679
Prayer is the way we communicate with God. The way of prayer for Christ’s followers is to imitate Him by praying as He did to God Our Father in Heaven. In Matthew’s Gospel, we are counseled by Jesus: “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name” (Mt 6:9).
This reference to God as “Father” caused many arguments and debates over the years, not only in theological circles, but in recent years, even among parishioners. Arguing from the perspective of “social justice,” some insist that this reference to God as “father” is sexist. Why? Because it gives the infinite God of the universe a male attribute, and removes the feminine attribute that would point to God as She. An additional criticism leveled toward the idea of God as “father” concerns the problem of a demeaning, unloving God, similar to many earthly fathers, who are abusive and unkind. Of course, such abusive earthly fathers have nothing to do with earthly fathers who are loving and kind, and certainly have nothing to do with God the Father of mercy and love described and revealed by Jesus Christ.
As a young priest, I often felt hurt by assumptions leveled against God, but I always explained that no matter how our own dads may have behaved toward us, such attributes could never exist with regard to God our Father in Heaven. He is, was and always will be a loving, merciful Father like the One described by His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To say it another way, no matter how abusive one’s earthly dad may be, our consolation as Catholics is that our Father in Heaven is and always will be a completely loving Father. Why do we refer to God as Father and not Mother? Because Sacred Scripture reveals or captures the way which God prefers to be addressed: “as Father” (Mt 6:9).
How do we gain access to our Father in Heaven? The Catechism explains: “Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray ‘in the name’ of Jesus” (ccc 2664). Next, we get a glimpse of how the Holy Spirit participates in this prayerful access to the Father. The Catechism states: “The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father” (ccc 2664).
The catechism explains further that although our prayer is always directed “above all” to God our Father, it is addressed first to Jesus Christ. “Certain psalms, given their use in the Prayer of the Church, and the New Testament, place on our lips and engrave in our hearts prayer to Christ in the form of invocations: Son of God, Word of God, Lord, Savior, Lamb of God, King, Beloved Son, Son of the Virgin, Good Shepherd, our Life, our Light, our Hope, our Resurrection, Friend of mankind.” (ccc 2665). However, “the most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers, is the invocation: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.’ It combines the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-11 with the cry of the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior’s mercy” (ccc 2667).
In addition to honoring the name of Jesus, which is “the simplest way of praying always” (ccc 2668), the Church likewise venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus because “out of love for us, he allowed [his heart] to be pierced by our sins” (ccc 2669). Each time we invoke Jesus in prayer “it is the Holy Spirit who draws us on the way of prayer by his prevenient grace” (ccc 2670). The Catechism refers to the Holy Spirit as “the interior Master of Christian prayer” (ccc 2672). As such, the simplest, most direct prayer to the Holy Spirit is one most familiar to us: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.”
Through our prayerful engagement, “the Holy Spirit unites us to the person of the only Son, in his glorified humanity, through which and in which our filial prayer unites us in the Church with the Mother of Jesus [as well]” (ccc 2673). We all recall how the gift of God’s Holy Spirit assisted Mary when she gave her consent in faith “at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross. Ever since, her motherhood has extended to [us] the brothers and sisters of her Son…” (ccc 2674).
Mary’s faith is exemplified in her Hymn of Praise known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), and outlined in the Ave Maria (the Hail Mary – Luke 1:28; 42), taken from the words spoken by the Archangel Gabriel and Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth. Both, found in St. Luke’s Gospel, help us understand Mary’s unique role as Mother of God in salvation history. As the Catechism points out, “Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er)” (ccc 2679). And, like John, the beloved disciple, “we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes, for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her” (ccc 2679).
We depend on Mary’s motherly care, as we pray in the Ave Maria, not only “now” in our busy lives, but also when we surrender ourselves to her Son “at the hour of death.” No wonder this beautiful prayer is the foundation of the most holy rosary, a prayer that can be communal or personal, vocal or interior. We echo the words of the Catechism: “May she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing to lead us to her son, Jesus, in paradise” (ccc 2677).
Let us take our cue from Mary, the first and most perfect disciple. The following acronym may be helpful ~ M-A-R-Y ~ Mary Always Responded Yes. May we, too, respond ‘YES’ to God in our prayers.
Father Hillier is director, diocesan Office of Pontifical Mission Societies, the Office for Persons with Disabilities and Censor Luborum