Bread in the Lord’s Prayer – Common misunderstandings

By Artur Suski

Credit: http://officetipsandmethods.com

One of the very first prayers that Christians learn is the Our Father. It’s a prayer that all Christians know and pray daily, and it’s one of the only prayers that Jesus taught us. It is such an important prayer that the entire English-speaking Christian world has adopted the same translation.

As I’ve been reading some commentaries on the Greek text of the Lord’s Prayer, I’ve come to see how much meaning we miss in the English translation. Consequently, also lost in translation is some of the original intent that Jesus had in mind.

It is some of these findings that I would like to share in this post. I’ve decided to limit myself to the sentence that has provoked the most discussion over the ages, the phrase “give us this day our daily bread.” Here are three points that I will tackle:

A Glance at Contemplative Prayer

By Artur Suski, S.J. 

Credit: www.img.4plebs.org

More and more I’ve been noticing that people these days have a great thirst for spirituality, and especially for prayer. It seems that the more our contemporary culture throws at us an anti-faith and materialistic mindset, the more something deep within calls to us. I think this is what has moved people to search for some sort of spirituality. “New Age” movements have sprung up like dandelions; for instance, there has been a renewed interest in Buddhist meditation. There has been a modest increase in interest in Christian spirituality too, though admittedly not as great as such things as those “New Age” movements. Christianity has been tried, and is has been found to be very, very difficult, mostly because of its sexual morality, which uncomfortably challenges many in today’s “liberated” and sexualized society.

When it comes to prayer and its many forms, however, Christianity can offer a wealth of resources. That so many Christians today don’t know how to pray, or simply don’t pray, speaks volumes about the terrible job we have been doing in promoting and teaching prayer. In this entry, I would like to spend some time on what many in the Church call contemplative prayer. I will attempt to provide some sort of practical guide that can be followed by people in all walks of life.

[Not] Seeing the Face of Christ in the Homeless

By Artur Suski, S.J.

a-revolt.org

Three weeks in the Paris of North America. Three weeks contemplating the suffering and rejected Christ. Three weeks of soul-searching.

Though a Jesuit’s summer is often full of Jesuit-formation activities, such as making one’s own eight-day retreat and attending formation gatherings, there are chunks of time that often lend themselves to creativity. I had three weeks at my disposal and I decided to make good use of them. I have been the last three weeks in Montreal, volunteering at a well-established (since 1877) soup kitchen and shelter – Accueil Bonneau.

My initial decision was simply to come to Montreal in order to polish my French. Not really knowing how to go about doing this in a most effective way, I asked some French Canadian Jesuits for some suggestions. After a few email exchanges it was decided that I’d have lots of French conversation at a soup kitchen. Hence Accueil Bonneau.

Apparitions – Should We Care?

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.michaeljournal.org

Ask a handful of Christians if they believe in apparitions, and you would likely find that the majority of them do not. And, really, why should they? We already have the Bible and our traditions. What more can these apparitions possibly “add” to our faith? Right? I beg to differ. In fact, I would challenge them and say that it is not biblical to reject all apparitions and make light of them. Was it not St. Paul who wrote, "Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not despise prophecy. Test everything; retain what is good" (1 Thess 5:19-22)? Apparitions have been an integral part of our faith journey as Judeo-Christians. It was through apparitions that our Patriarchs of the Old Covenant received guidance from God, and the Torah itself! It is through apparitions that prophets received their call and their sacred messages to pass on to the people. Why would it be any different now?

To Bee or Not to Bee

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://u.osu.edu/

His labour is a chant, 

His idleness a tune; 

Oh, for a bee's experience 

Of clovers and of noon! 

(From The Bee, by Emily Dickinson)

There has been a lot written in the bee world during these last couple of years regarding what researchers call “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD). Bee colonies throughout the world have been dying off at a dangerous rate. It was only after I had watched the documentary Vanishing of the Bees that I fully grasped the serious problem at hand.

Communion in Diversity – The Other Churches

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://thehouses1.blogspot.com

A Roman Catholic priest walks into an elementary class and leads the students in prayer. He asks all to begin with the sign of the cross, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. He quickly notices that one of the girls in the class crossed herself the wrong way. “No, dear, we cross ourselves from left to right – you’re doing it wrong.” The priest continued to come to that class for a number of years and every time he used the opportunity to correct the girl’s “wrong way of crossing herself.” In reality, she was of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. This and many similar stories are known to many of us. Alas, this true story, which took place in the 1950s in the US, exemplifies the lack of acceptance, and to some extent, the lack of respect, for the non-Latin rites in the Catholic communion before Vatican II.

The Balancing Game

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.lasallenonprofitcenter.org

I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to direct Ignatian retreats at the Jesuit retreat house in Guelph, Loyola House. I’ve learned a tonne about Ignatian retreats as well as about the complexity of the human experience. This includes the “characters” whom I’ve encountered. After I’ve given enough of these Ignatian retreats, I begin to see certain patterns in peoples’ lives. I’d like to share with you a significant pattern that I’ve been noticing in a large part of my retreatants: it is the challenge to live a balanced life.

Theology for Dummies – It’s for Everyone!

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.holyfamily-parish.com/

In a few months’ time, I will be leaving Guelph behind and moving to Toronto to begin my theological studies at Regis College. As I reflected a bit on a Jesuit’s requirement to study theology as part of his formation, I also recognized that it should be an integral part of every Christian’s daily life, and not just the clergyman’s. It seems that today more and more of our adult Christians know less and less about their faith. For the most part, today’s adult Christians seem to have an elementary school level faith because their faith formation seemed to have stopped after their reception of the sacrament of Confirmation, which is usually received in grade eight.

A Call to “Pray Always” – The Liturgy of the Hours

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Editor’s note: Catholic devotions: why do they matter, what are they made of, what are they are not. In a strong and prescriptive phrase in his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote “we ought to praise not only the building and adornment of churches, but also the images and veneration of them according to what they represent.” He seemed to press the point even further, writing “we should show our esteem for the relics of the saints by venerating them and praying to the saints. We should praise visits to Station Churches, pilgrimages, indulgences, jubilees, crusade insults, and the lighting of candles in churches.” For some, these devotions are the spiritual life-blood of the believing Church; for others they may seem simplistic or quaint. But in the spirit of our founder, we, too, seek to explore and understand the powerful role of devotions in the Church today. 

“Singing the psalmody refreshes and invigorates the mind for contemplation. It stores thoughts and images which renders the recollection of God constant and fruitful.” 

- St. Basil the Great 

Jesus called his disciples to “pray always and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1). A few decades later, the apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). It seems that all her members were called to make their whole day an offering of prayer from the very beginning of the life of the Church. Yet at the same time, the unspoken, nagging question accompanying such a tall task is quite plainly: how are we to realize this invitation to “pray without ceasing”?

No Fire Can Stop a Burning Heart!

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://flickr.com

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21)

For some time now, I’ve been regularly attending Saturday night Vespers and the occasional Divine Liturgy at a Byzantine Catholic parish not too far from Guelph, Ontario: St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brampton. I initially went out of curiosity. I was brought up in the Roman Catholic tradition and my exposure to other Catholic traditions was close to nil. In fact, for a very long time I thought that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was like the Polish Church – they have mass, like our Polish mass, but in Ukrainian! This was the extent of my familiarity with the Byzantine tradition until about four years ago, when I had the chance to study early Church history, especially the development of liturgy in the East and West.

Some of you may have heard on the news recently that St. Elias Church was completely devoured by fire on April 5, 2014. When I found out about the disaster, I went into a state of shock for about half an hour. The magnitude of the disaster didn’t truly sink in until I had the chance to make the rounds of the remains of what used to be the Church. It was heart wrenching. I cannot truly put into words what I felt. All I can say is that it was difficult to face the truth.

"Faith and Froth", a Match Made in Heaven

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://lexingtoncatholic.org

Most of you don’t have beer on your minds these days as we progress through Lent toward Easter. I am also in the same boat. That being said, I have just completed a successful first year of ‘Theology on Tap’ here in Guelph, and I’d like to share with you some of my reflections from the four events that we’ve hosted.

The project began in the spring of 2013 when a member of a Catholic parish in Guelph felt called to do something for the Year of Faith, more specifically, for evangelization. He proceeded to assemble “the team” – a committee of people from the Catholic school system, other Catholic parishes, and the University community, of which I am the contact. Essentially, the goal was to reach out to young people (from nineteen to forty years old) who are “un-churched” and who definitely will not step into a Church on their own. That, at least, was the goal.

“Son of God”, Another Jesus Movie?

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://facebook.com/SonOfGodMovie

I must admit that I was a bit sceptical when I heard that there was going to be yet another Jesus movie. Are there not enough movies about Jesus out there? Wasn’t Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ not the masterpiece that put an end to future Jesus movies? Apparently not. What new things could they come up with that weren’t in the previous movies, anyway? In any case, this was my thinking until last Sunday night, when I went to see Son of God with a group of fellow Jesuits.

Addicted to … Chocolate?

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://thoughtcatalog.files.wordpress.com

Many of us have at some point in our lives struggled over the tough decision of either throwing out or keep old textbooks from our university days. I know I have this problem, and that others also find it hard to part from their Biochemistry 101 textbook, the one that cost so much at the time! Apparently, these textbooks can still be of some use even when their days are long gone. A while back, when I was studying philosophy at the University of Toronto, a number of my Jesuit confrères had the privilege of reading ‘Addiction and Grace’ by psychiatrist Gerald G. May, MD, as part of a ‘Philosophy of Human Nature’ course. It’s a short soft cover book that many of us could not make it fit in our collection of books after our studies were completed. I recently stayed at my old philosophy community and came across this book in the ‘Free books’ section – also known as the book graveyard– of our library.

Why I Will Not Be Watching the 2014 Olympics

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.express.co.uk/

When I was a kid, I really wanted to have one million dollars. For a little boy around 10 years old, a million dollars could get you a lot of fun stuff. I mostly dreamed of buying all the toys I could think of, especially the remote-control type, the flying kinds. Those were far-fetched big dreams that I knew were unattainable. Even today, I must admit, a million dollars seems like a lot, especially for a poverty-vowed Jesuit. But a billion dollars, that’s the new big dream. It will get you into the big league. Actually, to tell the truth, I find it hard to even conceptualize how much money that really is. It is such a large amount that my limited reason cannot fully grasp this reality.

Thou Hast Sanctified the Work of My Hands?

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.nydailynews.com/

One of the great tragedies of our contemporary, post-modern era is the sad reality that many of us hate the work that we do. We begrudgingly get up to go to work, and when we get home, we let everyone know how we are fed up with our work. True, there are many who really enjoy what they do, but aren't they the minority? According to a somewhat recent article in the New York Times (June 2013), “an alarming 70% of those surveyed in a recent Gallup poll either hate their jobs or are completely disengaged, and not even incentives and extras can extricate them from the working man's blues.”

So what’s going on? The days are long gone when St. Benedict’s famous phrase ‘Ora et labora’ (Pray and work – in the Latin vocative case) was at the heart of a worker’s attitude toward work and prayer. Is it that we all missed our true vocations, or is there something else that has gone awry? It is no easy task to analyze this phenomenon, but perhaps the Spiritual Exercises (SpEx) of St. Ignatius of Loyola can help us understand what is going on.

Can the Scars Ever Heal? Haiti, Four Years Later

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://content.time.com/

Three days ago (January 12th) marked the fourth year anniversary of the massive 7.3 earthquake that shook Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. For “developed” countries of the world, a 7.3 earthquake would not have devastated a country to such a degree as it did Haiti, and most of these would have recovered fairly quickly. Yet Haiti was utterly devastated – one could even say, completely paralyzed. So why did the earthquake manage to take down literally a whole country? And why is so little progress done in the aftermath?

Lord, Have Mercy – Say What?

By Artur Suski, S.J. 

Credit: From the Film the Passion of the Christ

We’ve all heard it somewhere. It’s heard in Protestant services, during the Catholic Mass, and you most definitely won’t miss it in an Orthodox Liturgy, which is probably repeated about a thousand times. It is also freely used as an exclamation, or to show surprise. Yes, the phrase to which I am referring is “Lord, Have Mercy”. We hear it so often, we speak it so frequently, but what exactly are we saying?

A New Approach to the Missions?

By Artur Suski, S.J.

On Monday of this week, I came upon a very inspiring article in the Toronto Star: “Good news from Canada's aboriginal communities” by Carol Goar. It is about a very ambitious project wherein the mission is to supply laptops to aboriginal children. It has been quite successful. “Since its founding in 2010, it has distributed 3,800 of the tough little computers,” writes Goar. But that’s not all; they’re not just on a mission to give out laptops to kids.

Advent in the East and West

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.familylifeministry.atlanta.goarch.org

In an address to the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic bishops in 2001, Pope John Paul II said that “the Church breathes with the two lungs of the Eastern and Western traditions.” A few years earlier, in Ut unum sint, we hear the same call: “The Church must breathe with her two lungs!” (# 54) But how are we to understand the Pope’s words? Are we all to become bi-ritual? I don’t think that is what the Pope had in mind. The Pope spoke of the whole Church. Given this context, the Pope wanted to point out that the Catholic Church has been dominated primarily by the Latin tradition. A balance must be restored. Both the East and the West ought to learn about the other and they ought to be faithful to their own respective traditions.

Straight Shooter

By Artur Suski, S.J. 

Credit: http://joeam.com

The Church and the secular world have different understandings of sin. When the media and other secular institutions talk about sin, they often equate sin with evil, with little deviation from this. The Church, on the other hand, from its earliest years has had a different understanding of sin.

There was no single word in the Greek language that can be translated into our English word sin. There are seven Greek words that are translated as sin in the Bible, with the most frequently used word being hamartia. It was used 221 times in the New Testament. Its literal meaning is quite revealing - it sheds some light on how the early Church understood sin. It means, literally, “to miss the mark”. To sin is really to miss the mark; think of an archer that is aiming for the bull’s eye in a target. If he’s really good, he’ll hit the mark. If not, he’ll miss the mark, or, he’ll sin.