|
Link
to share: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-unholy-prayers.htm
|
|
Unholy Prayers
in Holy Mass? 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. 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.,
). 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): 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! Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 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 Link
to share: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-unholy-prayers.htm
Other texts in English >>> Index of the texts about Eucharist >>> |
