Let your prayer come from a humble heart

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

On the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to reflect on a Scripture passage from the beginning of the book of Judges (2: 6----3:4) entitled “Israel in the time of judges”. Our treasure for today, which follows, is from a treatise on the Lord’s Prayer by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr.

The Hebrew word translated “Judges” in the English title of the book refers not to specialized judicial officers or magistrates but to leaders in general. According to the biblical narrative these judges led Israel from the end of the conquest of Canaan until the beginning of the monarchy. The period of the Judges, therefore, extended from the death of Joshua (Jos 24:29–31; cf. Jgs 1:1) until the installation of Saul as Israel’s first king by the prophet Samuel, who was also the last judge (see 1 Sm 7:15–17).

In the Treatise on the Lord's Prayer, Saint Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr of Carthage explains the meaning of the Lord's Prayer, phrase by phrase, giving a revealing, beautiful and profound vision of the traditional prayer.

Saint Cyprian is important in the development of Christian thought and practice in the third century, especially in northern Africa. Highly educated and a famous orator, he became a Christian as an adult. He distributed his goods to the poor, and amazed his fellow citizens by making a vow of chastity before his baptism. Within two years he had been ordained a priest and was chosen, against his will, as Bishop of Carthage.

Cyprian complained that the peace the Church had enjoyed had weakened the spirit of many Christians and had opened the door to converts who did not have the true spirit of faith. When the Decian persecution began, many Christians easily abandoned the Church. It was their reinstatement that caused the great controversies of the third century, and helped the Church progress in its understanding of the Sacrament of Penance.