Is “Our Father” a Challenging Prayer?

by | Sep 17, 2021 | Mindwalk

It was for the early church!

Just ask the shocked hearers of the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan is story about taking care of someone who is your sworn enemy!

Just think of the disbelief after Jesus’ crucifixion. They could not understand that Jesus would die for everyone, including all his brothers and sisters who cheered or even just stood by the horror!

Just ask the battling factions in the decades after Christ’s death. Of course, the Our Father did not apply to non-orthodox Jews, much less Gentile

Basically, the OUR in the Our Father did not include various kinds of “others”

Pope Francis thinks it challenges us today

In the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, I expressed a concern and a hope that remain uppermost in my thoughts: “Once this health crisis passes, our worst response would be to plunge even more deeply into feverish consumerism and new forms of egotistic self-preservation. God willing, after all this, we will think no longer in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those’, but only ‘us’” (No. 35).

For this reason, I have wished to devote the Message for this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees to the theme, Towards An Ever Wider “We”, in order to indicate a clear horizon for our common journey in this world.

We are still struggling with the realization that the Our Father means every person is part of God’s immediate family. The very first words challenge us to wake up to realize our very real “family of origin” is a Wider “We”

Steps toward a wider “we”

It is no secret that refugees and immigrants don’t count for many people who today say/pray OUR Father!

For 40 years the US Bishops have celebrated National Migration Week. The Miraculous Medal Shrine is presenting brief reflective videos beginning Sept. 20 through Sept. 26.

Let yourself be challenged by the video voices of…

Fr. Vince Finnerty Pastor, St. Mary of the Mission, in Opelika, Alabama

  • Fr. Vince has served Hispanic and Latino communities in the United States and abroad since the beginning of his Vincentian vocation.

Carolina Soares Nemo – Assoc. Dir. of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of The Miraculous Medal Shrine

  • Carolina Domingos (Soares) Nemo was born in Braga, Portugal, and immigrated to the United States with her family as a baby.

Maria Turcios – Community Organizer at the New Sanctuary Movement

  • Originally from Honduras, Maria enjoys her life of faith, her family, and service to the community. Maria began her role at NSM as a volunteer (seven years) and eventually joined the staff five years ago.

Bassang Lazare Atoulelou – 4th year Mechanical Engineering Major at Temple University

  • Lazare was born in Togo, West Africa, and moved to the United States in 2009. Lazare believes that God works through us and others in order to better ourselves, even if it’s sometimes difficult to see.

Sr. Michelle Nguyen, DC – Pastoral Assistant at St. Helena Church

  • Sr. Michelle Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and currently serves as the pastoral assistant at St. Helena Church working with the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth. Like millions of Vietnamese in 1975, she fled her native country seeking freedom.

Mary Jo Timlin-Hoag – CEO, Central Association of the Miraculous Medal’s (CAMM) 

  • Mary Jo is the first female CEO to lead CAMM, a 105-year-old organization. Her parents immigrated from Ireland and she remains in contact with her relatives still living there.

Sr. Meggie Flores, DC

  • Sr. Meggie has been a teacher and financial administrator, but lately has discovered a passion to work with and serve the migrant population who she feels constantly teach and evangelizes her.

Let’s listen to stories of the Wider “We”

Click below for an audio version of this Vincentian Mindwalk