Throughout the ages, the Mass has seen many external changes. The external changes manifest themselves in many different respects. Of course, throughout our time, the Mass has been added to, retracted from, and readjusted. Nevertheless, we hold many views and practices that many Catholics (me included) might not understand.
Recently, I was asked by a family friend as to why one would not be permitted to hold hands during the Our Father. I found this to be a very noble question. Many individuals have been brought up in a school of thought that calls for individuals to hold hands during this most wondrous prayer of Our Lord.
The prayer is the way we were taught to pray to Our Heavenly Father by His Most Holy Son. It is most sacred. It has multiple purposes. It shows our filial relationship to God the Father. It shows that we are part of a community. It shows that we are humbly open to the Will of the Father in all things and that we must ask Him for all things. We must come to understand, when the prayer was placed in our particular Latin Rite liturgy, Pope St. Gregory the Great placed the prayer in the Mass in order to add a penitential prayer prior to reception of Communion. It was deemed to be the only prayer necessary to be stated to receive Communion. Liturgically, it is noted as a penitential prayer that prepares the soul for reception. How extremely fitting that one would ask humbly for the Will of the Father to be done in their life in order to have God's Life gifted to them. The relationship seems to mirror Our Blessed Mother's "Fiat". Analogously in nature, the lay faithful ask for Our Father to do His Will in their lives.
Is it evil or wrong to hold hands during the Our Father? After all, it is a filial prayer that shows the relationship between "us" (assumed as the Nominative Plural of the form of the Genitive Plural "our") and the Father. I would not postulate that holding hands during the Our Father would be sinful, rather, I would postulate that holding hands during the Our Father would serve as a physical impediment that has spiritual effects and affects. The holding of the hands distracts the person from worrying solely about praying and penitentially preparing one's soul for reception of Communion and, in turn, requires that another person be the object of their attention. The Mass, as lay faithful, is to be focused on Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament at all times. Any draw away from the Holy Lamb ought to be avoided. For example, if I were in a conversation with my spouse, and I decided to continually sing her praises while I decided to distract myself by reaching and holding someone else's hand, it is not so much wrong as it is an impediment (unnecessary distraction): it lacks the fullness of attention that one ought to give to the particular scenario. We, as the Bride of Christ, ought to be open to listening and being fully attentive at ALL of the Mass parts. Think about all the things you pray for in adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication. Now imagine that Our Lord decided to not fully give of Himself to you by distracting Himself with other things. One of the most beautiful aspects of Our Lord is that He always is waiting, listening, and watching, we ought to try to do the same.
Worship was perfected by two individuals in this world. God is Wonderfully Generous in His Provisions. The Father provided us His Son, Who showed the way to love our Father in Heaven. Mary, elevating humanity as a whole by merit of Her call to be Co-redemptrix, embodies the feminine, mystical Queen of Worship. All men ought to aspire to be like Christ in a very special way. Analogously in nature, women ought to pursue the feminine mystique of Mary, the Mother of God. Mystically and metaphysically, the existence of these two models allows for man to continually pursue the truth not solely by intellectual pursuit, but by mimicing the perfect way to lead a life in knowledge, love, and service to the Will of the Father.
How does this apply to our discussion of the Our Father? I provide this side-track in order to mystically meditate on worship as a whole. Each person has a different world-view. Gender has a very deep, intrinsic affect on how one perceives worship and all its intricacies. Additionally, I am fully aware that worship is a positive fact that exists, but our participation in that worship lies in our knowledge of how that occurs. Therefore, men and women have different ways of expressing worship. Mary's response and Jesus's response to worship were the same but manifested themselves in different ways. Men - model after Christ. Women- model after Mary. This is important, because I am asking you to ask yourself how this manifests itself in your own worship. I believe that one ought to ask themselves honestly as to whether or not this is true. If it is, I challenge you to go beyond yourself and attempt to worship like Christ as a male or Mary as a female.
Most importantly, I finish noting that I have prayed for each one of you reading this piece. I ask you to pray for me. This is a daily metanoia for me as well. I live with the daily challenge of asking myself what I can do to perfect all aspects of my life. May the Blessed Mother protect our pursuit of Truth in Her Mantle.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
Feast: St. John of San Facundo, Confessor, pray for us.
Worship was perfected by two individuals in this world. God is Wonderfully Generous in His Provisions. The Father provided us His Son, Who showed the way to love our Father in Heaven. Mary, elevating humanity as a whole by merit of Her call to be Co-redemptrix, embodies the feminine, mystical Queen of Worship. All men ought to aspire to be like Christ in a very special way. Analogously in nature, women ought to pursue the feminine mystique of Mary, the Mother of God. Mystically and metaphysically, the existence of these two models allows for man to continually pursue the truth not solely by intellectual pursuit, but by mimicing the perfect way to lead a life in knowledge, love, and service to the Will of the Father.
How does this apply to our discussion of the Our Father? I provide this side-track in order to mystically meditate on worship as a whole. Each person has a different world-view. Gender has a very deep, intrinsic affect on how one perceives worship and all its intricacies. Additionally, I am fully aware that worship is a positive fact that exists, but our participation in that worship lies in our knowledge of how that occurs. Therefore, men and women have different ways of expressing worship. Mary's response and Jesus's response to worship were the same but manifested themselves in different ways. Men - model after Christ. Women- model after Mary. This is important, because I am asking you to ask yourself how this manifests itself in your own worship. I believe that one ought to ask themselves honestly as to whether or not this is true. If it is, I challenge you to go beyond yourself and attempt to worship like Christ as a male or Mary as a female.
Most importantly, I finish noting that I have prayed for each one of you reading this piece. I ask you to pray for me. This is a daily metanoia for me as well. I live with the daily challenge of asking myself what I can do to perfect all aspects of my life. May the Blessed Mother protect our pursuit of Truth in Her Mantle.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
Feast: St. John of San Facundo, Confessor, pray for us.
