Say It To God by Luigi Gioia

Author:Luigi Gioia [Gioia, Luigi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2017-09-12T10:52:45+00:00

1 Ps. 124.7.

2 Ps. 55.6.

3 Jn 3.6.

4 Ps. 55.6–8.

5 Isa. 40.31.

6 Jn 3.8.

7 Jn 3.3.

8 Ezek. 36.26–27.

9 Mt. 5.8.

10 Mt. 13.15.

11 Ps. 51.10.

12 Mt. 6.22–23.

13 Mt. 5.8.

14 Cf. Mt. 5.17–48.

15 Lk. 8.15.

16 Ps. 51.10.

17 Lk. 24.32.

18 Mt. 13.16.

19 Mt. 14.29–31.

20 Heb. 12.1–2.

21 Mk 7.26–30.

A NEW DAY

Pray then in this way,1 says Jesus. Not just: ‘using these words’ or ‘adopting this method’, but ‘in this freedom’, in the freedom of the children of God, in the freedom of the Spirit who gives wings to our desire, who frees us from the self-absorption that prevents us from raising our eyes to God. The freedom of the Spirit that frees us from the ‘me, me, me’ and gives us joy and peace in repeating, ‘your, your, your’: hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. Not in self-denial, nor by downplaying in any way our wishes, needs, hopes and desires, but by owning them in a new way, by allowing them to be purified of all dregs as we plunge in the waters of prayer.

Jesus teaches us to begin by asking that the Father’s name may be hallowed, sanctified – and that his kingdom may come. The Father’s name and the Father’s kingdom: who has these at the top of his or her list of intentions in prayer? We struggle even to understand what either of these things mean! And yet it is so simple and so beautiful.

To take God’s name first: God has no name, he never gives his name, he cannot give his name. When we know somebody’s name – which nowadays includes the family name – we start the process of sizing him or her up, of deciding how we are going to behave with this person and of establishing boundaries. This process cannot work with God, who is free in the way Jesus tries to explain to Nicodemus: The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or whither it goes.2

Knowing somebody, really knowing, only happens when my story meets the other person’s story, it is a process that takes time. The more my knowledge of other people is based on a common history, the less I rely on the initial idea I had formed about them on the basis of their name because I am granted access to a deeper level of his identity – not based on how they look, on their family history, their race, gender, nationality, education, but on their character, their behaviour. Now I empathize with the other person to the point where I can anticipate the way they are going to act or react.

God has no name, nor does he give us any, not because he would feel threatened by this disclosure, but because he wants to be known by us at this deeper and authentic level. Thus, when Moses asks him his name, God’s answer is I am who I am,3 which means I act in

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