527 AMEN "YES, SO BE IT!"

AVE MARIA

YOUCAT Lesson 527

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

527  Why do we end the Our Father with “Amen”?

Christians and Jews alike from ancient times have concluded all their prayers with “Amen”, thereby saying, “Yes, so be it!”  [2855-2856, 2865]

This the procession statue of Our Lady of Good Help that is kept at the National Champion Shrine 16 miles northeast of Green Bay on County Highway K.  –Don L. Bragg photo

When a person says “Amen” to his words, “Amen” to his life and his destiny, “Amen” to the joy that awaits him, then heaven and earth come together and we are at the goal: with the love that created us in the beginning.  165

Embolism (from Greek, emballein = insert): a clause added to the Our Father when it is recited at Mass: Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

“The Amen of our faith is not death, but life.”  Michael Cardinal Faulhaber (1869-1952)

 [2855-2856, 2865]

THE FINAL DOXOLOGY

2855 The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the first three petitions to our Father: the glorification of his name, the coming of his reign, and the power of his saving will. But these prayers are now proclaimed as adoration and thanksgiving, as in the liturgy of heaven.( Comparre Revelation 1:6; Rev 4:11; Rev 5:13.)¹⁷⁶ The ruler of this world has mendaciously attributed to himself the three titles of kingship, power, and glory.( Compare Luke 4:5-6.)¹⁷⁷ Christ, the Lord, restores them to his Father and our Father, until he hands over the kingdom to him when the mystery of salvation will be brought to its completion and God will be all in all.( 1 Corinthians 15:24-28.)¹⁷⁸ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

2856 "Then, after the prayer is over you say 'Amen,' which means 'So be it,' thus ratifying with our 'Amen' what is contained in the prayer that God has taught us."( St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 5,18:Patrologia Graeca 33,1124; compare Luke 1:38.)¹⁷⁹ –CCC

Roadmap of the Catholic Faith online catechism lessons will resume anew on February 21, 2018 (my 88^th birthday!).

LESSON 527 brings us to the end of the YOUCAT catechism booklet. In this most recent online class instruction we have now merged YOUCAT and the related numbered paragraphs of the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.  We also have spelled out the paragraph footnotes for the related Bible book, chapter and verse, yet keeping their CCC footnote numbers. Going further, for those who follow these lessons at our blog   http://roadmapofthecatholicfaith.blogspot.com/   we have hyperlinked the CCC paragraph references which will allow you to instantly skip back and forth between CCC and the exact cited verse in the Bible on the home page of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

We will see you back at this same location on February 21, 2018 and, as the Benedictines would say, “Pray for each other.”

526 "DELIVER US FROM EVIL"

AVE MARIA

YOUCAT Lesson 526

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

526  What does it mean to say, “Deliver us from evil”?

“Evil” in the Our Father does not mean a negative spiritual force or energy, but rather Evil in person, whom Sacred Scripture knows by the name of “the tempter”, “the father of lies”, Satan, or the devil.  [2850-2854, 2864]

The raging bull sums up optimism and prosperity as a modern day golden calf.  “The devil’s most cunning trick is to convince us that he does not exist.”  Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867, French poet). …..526

No one can deny that evil in the world is devastating in its power, that we are surrounded by devilish suggestions, that there are often demonic processes at work in history.  Only Sacred Scripture calls things by their name: “For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness” (Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 6:12).  The petition from the Our Father “deliver us from evil” brings all the misery of this world before God and begs God Almighty to free us from all evils.

“Be sober, be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  1 Peter 5:8

  

 [2850-2854, 2864]

VII "BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL"

2850 The last petition to our Father is also included in Jesus' prayer: "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one."( John 17:15.)

¹⁶³ It touches each of us personally, but it is always "we" who pray, in communion with the whole Church, for the deliverance of the whole human family. The Lord's Prayer continually opens us to the range of God's economy of salvation. Our interdependence in the drama of sin and death is turned into solidarity in the Body of Christ, the "communion of saints."( Compare Reconciliatio et Paenitentia 16.)¹⁶⁴ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

2851 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 "throws himself across" God's plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ. –CCC

2852 "A murderer from the beginning, . . . a liar and the father of lies," Satan is "the deceiver of the whole world."( John 8:44; Revelation 12:9.)¹⁶⁵ Through him sin and death entered the world and by his definitive defeat all creation will be "freed from the corruption of sin and death."( Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV,125.)¹⁶⁶ Now "we know that anyone born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one."( 1 John 5:18-19.)¹⁶⁷ –CCC

The Lord who has taken away your sin and pardoned your faults also protects you and keeps you from the wiles of your adversary the devil, so that the enemy, who is accustomed to leading into sin, may not surprise you. One who entrusts himself to God does not dread the devil. "If God is for us, who is against us?"( St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 5,4,30:Patrologia Latina 16,454; compare Romans 8:31. )¹⁶⁸ –CCC

 2853 Victory over the "prince of this world"(John 14:30.)¹⁶⁹ was won once for all at the Hour when Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us his life. This is the judgment of this world, and the prince of this world is "cast out."( John 12:31; Revelation 12:10.)¹⁷⁰ "He pursued the woman"(Revelation 12:13-16.)¹⁷¹ but had no hold on her: the new Eve, "full of grace" of the Holy Spirit, is preserved from sin and the corruption of death (the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary, ever virgin). "Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring."( Revelation 12:17.)¹⁷² Therefore the Spirit and the Church pray: "Come, Lord Jesus,"( Revelation 22:17,20.)¹⁷³ since his coming will deliver us from the Evil One.  –CCC

 2854 When we ask to be delivered from the Evil One, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, present, past, and future, of which he is the author or instigator. In this final petition, the Church brings before the Father all the distress of the world. Along with deliverance from the evils that overwhelm humanity, she implores the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance in expectation of Christ's return By praying in this way, she anticipates in humility of faith the gathering together of everyone and everything in him who has "the keys of Death and Hades," who "is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."( Revelation 1:8,18; compare Rev 1:4; Ephesians 1:10.)¹⁷⁴ –CCC

  

Deliver us, Lord, we beseech you, from every evil and grant us peace in our day, so that aided by your mercy we might be ever free from sin and protected from all anxiety, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.( Roman Missal, Embolism after the Lord's Prayer, 126: Libera nos, quæsumus, Domine, ab omnibus malis, da propitius pacem in diebus nostris, ut, ope misericordiæ tuæ adiuti, et a peccato simus semper liberi, et ab omni perturbatione securi: expectantes beatam spem et adventum Salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi.)¹⁷⁵ –CCC

  

IN BRIEF

2864 In the last petition, "but deliver us from evil," Christians pray to God with the Church to show forth the victory, already won by Christ, over the "ruler of this world," Satan, the angel personally opposed to God and to his plan of salvation.  --CCC

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 28, 2018

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Eleventh century fresco of the Exorcism at the Synagogue in Capernaum.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 28, 2018
Lectionary: 71

Reading 1 DeuTeronomy 18:15-20

Moses spoke to all the people, saying:  "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin; to him you shall listen.  This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.'  And the LORD said to me, 'This was well said.  I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him.  Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name,
I myself will make him answer for it.  But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.'"

Responsorial Psalm.  PSalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reading 2   1 CORinthians 7:32-35

Brothers and sisters:  I should like you to be free of anxieties.  An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.  But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided.  An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit… A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.  I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

Alleluia   MaTthew 4:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light;
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death,
light has arisen.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel.  MarK 1:21-28

Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.  The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.  In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"  Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!"  The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.   All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this?  A new teaching with authority.  He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him."  His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

525 "AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION"

AVE MARIA

YOUCAT Lesson 525

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

525  What does it mean to say, “Lead us not into temptation”?

 Because every day and every hour we are in danger of falling into sin and saying No to God, we beg God not to leave us defenseless in the power of temptation.  [2846-2849]

The Temptation of Jesus in the Desert by Satan.   A work of art by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890). …..525

Jesus, who was tempted himself, knows that we are weak human beings, who have little strength of our own with which to oppose the evil one.  He graciously gives us the petition from the Our Father, which teaches us to trust in God’s assistance in the hour of trial.

 “Someone who is not tempted is not tested; someone who is not tested makes no progress.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

[2846-2849]

“AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION”

2846 This petition goes to the root of the preceding one, for our sins result from our consenting to temptation; we therefore ask our Father not to "lead" us into temptation. It is difficult to translate the Greek verb used by a single English word: the Greek means both "do not allow us to enter into temptation" and "do not let us yield to temptation."( Compare Matthew 26:41.)¹⁵⁰ "God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one";(James 1:13.)¹⁵¹ on the contrary, he wants to set us free from evil. We ask him not to allow us to take the way that leads to sin. We are engaged in the battle "between flesh and spirit"; this petition implores the Spirit of discernment and strength. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

 2847 The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man,( Compare Luke 8:13-15; Acts of the Apostles 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:12.)¹⁵² and temptation, which leads to sin and death.( Compare James 1:14-15.)¹⁵³ We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a "delight to the eyes" and desirable,( Compare Genesis 3:6.)¹⁵⁴ when in reality its fruit is death. --CCC

God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us.( Origen, De orat. 29:Patrologia Graeca 11,544CD.)¹⁵⁵ –CCC

2848 "Lead us not into temptation" implies a decision of the heart: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . No one can serve two masters."( Matthew 6:21, 24.)¹⁵⁶ "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."( Galatians 5:25.)¹⁵⁷ In this assent to the Holy Spirit the Father gives us strength. "No testing has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it."( 1 Corinthians 10:13.)¹⁵⁸ –CCC

 2849 Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his agony.( Compare Matthew 4:1-11; Mt 26:36-44.)¹⁵⁹ In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to  vigilance of the heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is "custody of the heart," and Jesus prayed for us to the Father: "Keep them in your name."( John 17:11; compare Mark 13:9,23,33-37; Mk 14:38; Luke 12:35-40.)¹⁶⁰ The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch.( Compare 1 Corinthians 16:13; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Peter 5:8.)¹⁶¹ Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final perseverance. "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake."( Revelation 16:15.)¹⁶² –CCC