28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 14, 2012
Deacon Robert Banet
(There’s a part of the Our Father that is not easily understood. It has to do with the request to not become tempted. Today’s guest homilist is Deacon Robert Banet, of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Enjoy this light-hearted dialog.)
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
I’m really having trouble with this one.
Tell me about it.
It’s the Our Father. I can understand most of it, but there’s one petition that really gets me.
Namely?
The one where we ask the Father not to lead us into temptation.
What’s the problem?
Why should we have to ask God not to do that? Why would He want to lead us into temptaton in the first place?
Well, I can’t answer that directly but why don’t we look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church to help.
Aw, that’s for little kids, isn’t it?
Well, count me a little kid then. I’ve been reading it ever since it came out. Let’s turn to paragraph 2846.
Go ahead.
It says it’s hard to translate the Greek verb but it means both don’t allow us to be led into temptation and also… get this!
I’m all ears.
But also “do not let us yield to temptation.”
Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I wonder why they didn’t translate it that way in the first place.
There you’ve got me. In any case get yourself a copy of the Catechism. It’s good reading, especially in this Year of Faith.
This what? Tell me more about that.
Maybe later. That’s all for now. Glory to God.