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“Unholy Prayers” in Holy Mass? - The “prayer crisis” in the Church

The crisis of faith is a crisis of God, which also finds expression in the liturgy of the Church and requires a solution in the management of the problem of secularization

 

The problematic image of God in our liturgy and prayers:

 

1. „ Do not look at our sins, but at the faith of your Church"??

 

The priest's prayer before the greeting of peace expresses fear of a God from whom we want to hide with our sins. That sounds like a fear that God might turn away from us or cast us off because of our sins.

The annunciation of previous generations made believers get the idea that God was constantly paying attention, above all, to our sins and that avoidance of sins was the most important concern of every Christian. A mentally healthy way of dealing with guilt and sins, however, would be, on the one hand, a very close look at man's problematic behavior in order to deal with them honestly and salutary and, on the other hand, to honestly entrust oneself to God, even with these shadow sides. It is important not to ignore - that would be repressing the guilt - and it is important not to ask God to look the other way - that would mean man is shirking his guilt.

This prayer is emotionally unhealthy, reveals a fearful image of God, and contradicts the message of Jesus, the Physician of the soul, who can only help us if we practice not a culture of looking away, but of looking close.
What do victims of sexual abuse think when they hear a priest praying at the altar in this way?

 

 

2. "Pray sisters and brothers that my sacrifice and yours may be pleasing to God the Almighty Father." - "The Lord accept the sacrifice from your hands, …“??

 

This alternate prayer and many offertory prayers ask God to accept the sacrifice. This is reminiscent of the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel (literally in the First Canon:„ Look upon it (bread and wine) reconciled and kindly, and accept it as once the gifts of your righteous servant Abel., …“).
The background for this alternate prayer is the fear of a rejection by an unpredictable and arbitrary God, of whom it is not obvious in the Cain and Abel story why he does not accept Cain's sacrifice: May he please not treat us like that today!

This is devotional gibberish and an expression of a negative, fearful image of God, but unfortunately it is not soul nourishment as one would expect from a Christian worship service - and it is by no means an expression of Jesus' image of God.

As Christians we must not pray like this!

 

3. Are these the words that Jesus spoke??

 

The blood of Jesus - "shed for the forgiveness of our sins": an ancient Jewish blood rite for the forgiveness of sins has found its way into Christian worship through a later modification of the words of Jesus.

The religious tradition of the oldest texts of Jesus' words at the Last Supper do not contain any reference to a thought of atonement(>>> Comparison of the texts)

Instead, the covenant idea in the foreground is: celebration of the bond between man and God and blood siblingship between people (comparable to the blood brotherhood among some Native American peoples). The bond with God (with Christ) animates the relationship between people - and this worldwide!

The problem structure changes: from human - God => to human - human. (Cf. parable of the "Merciful Father": It is not the "father" who is to be asked for mercy, but the "brother")!

God does not need blood sacrifices for his mercy (A frightening image of God - created by the interpretation of the destruction of Jerusalem -70 A.D.- and natural disasters of all kinds as punitive actions of God).

It is probably a "theological import" from Jewish priests who became Christians after the destruction of Jerusalem. This is why, unfortunately, the atonement thought still dominates the Holy Mass from the beginning to the end and thus a negative image of God, but not the covenant thought in the spirit of Jer 31,33f, where it is about maturity and responsibility of man.

Quote from a father of four children: "I have the impression I have more love and feelings of mercy and kindness toward my children than this God, who is read about and prayed for in church."

 

4. The "almighty" God who "reigns"??

 

The formulation "almighty God" is not a wording of the New Testament! Jesus' changed view of God's work in the world has not been perceived, proclaimed, or transformed into appropriate liturgical texts by the Church.

In the minds of many Christians, a "ruling God" is the God who punishes or cruelly tests by means of the forces of nature in the case of strokes of fate and natural disasters.

But a love relationship is not a relationship of domination and possession.

 

5. "Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world" ??

 

The request of "taking away" the sin is related to the old idea that sin separates us from God (Cf. "Preface for Sundays VIII" in the Missal of the Catholic Church, page 412: "Sin had separated men from you (God)"). But therapeutically as well as spiritually, it is not about "taking away" sins and guilt, but about accepting and transforming guilt by becoming aware of our guilt, confessing it, taking responsibility for its consequences, and learning from it for our future path in life.

And according to the message of Jesus, God is on the side of the sinner towards his guilt problem and wants to help him to solve this. In the case of a sinner who is willing to repent, sin does not separate God from man!

 

6. “Lord, I am not worthy that you enter in my house"??

 

We need both: humility, since we are creaturely, limited and needy beings, and a healthy self-awareness as "children of God" loved and respected by God, animated with divine dignity and charged with being careful caretakers of His Creation entrusted to us. But the formulations in Holy Mass, which portray people primarily as sinners, as guilty and unworthy, are completely disproportionate in the foreground. Man is rather made small and emotionally weak, instead of being enabled to develop their conscience sensitivity to the problems of the time, to become emotionally alert and ready to take responsibility, and to recognize their specific vocation.

 

7. Orations

Many prayers in the Holy Mass have the relationship pattern God-Man-World from the pre-conciliar period since the 13th century or since the Tridentinum (16th century):
Thus, without creation theology, with a negative understanding of history and without Catholic social teaching.
 

Looking at the prayers of the Church, we should consider the word of Jesus: “When children ask for bread, will we give them a scorpion or a stone (poisonous, scary, or indigestible stuff)?” 

If in our time responsible persons in economy and administration have to check very carefully and subtly their communication behavior and their language for unconscious incapacitating and depreciating statements in expensive special courses, then our talking about God and speaking to God should be important enough for us to exercise at least the same care and clairaudience as the "children of this world" do for worldly interests!

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These points of criticism can be continued in many ways if one carefully examines the texts of the Eucharistic celebration against the background of today's biblical theological, psychological and scientific knowledge.

If we consider the theology and the spiritual effect of the traditional prayers of the liturgy, it is not surprising that often people who are mentally very awake and sensitive leave the church and stay away - not only the comfortable and indifferent ones.

 

As the most important organization for value issues and value-oriented lifestyle, how should the Church have social significance and be a role model when it proclaims a completely outdated image of God every day in its most important ritual, namely in the celebration of the Eucharist?

 

Manfred Hanglberger (www.hanglberger-manfred.de)

 

Translated by: Ingeborg Schmutte

 

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