The Prayer that Jesus Taught Us

The Prayer that Jesus Taught Us Michael Crosby Orbis, $19, 208 pp.

The disciples' request, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Lk 11:1), elicited one of the most enduring and commented-upon of Christian texts, and the Lord's Prayer has subsequently had a privileged place in the Christian tradition. From the end of the second century, when Tertullian wrote his commentary, to the present, there has been a steady stream of interpretation, explanation, and paraphrasing of the prayer. A handy summary of some of its more notable commentators may be found in the second part of Nicholas Ayo's The Lord's Prayer (University of Notre Dame Press, 1992).

Michael Crosby, the Capuchin preacher and social activist, adds to this body of literature with The Prayer that Jesus Taught Us. Crosby concentrates on Matthew's version, with only an occasional glance at the Lucan account. His exegesis begins in the discourse of modern social science. This approach allows him to uncover the subversive nature of the prayer--note the prayer's (silent) rejection of the Roman Empire. Our Father is not the emperor Domitian, but God; the kingdom that is to come is not that of imperial strategy; God's name and not the emporer's is to be hallowed. From the comfort of our age, these declarations may seem like pious banalities, but for a persecuted church they were daring assertions.

Crosby points out the radical demands embedded in the prayer's petitions. He places this discussion in the wider context of Matthew's Gospel as a whole, and does so with good effect. For example, while discussing the petition for "daily bread," he notes how often we find in Matthew this dynamic: Jesus sees a need; he reacts with compassion; he acts (see, for one example, Mt 20:29-34). There is a wonderful example for all of us: Look around--be moved by what we see--do something about it. Hence, Crosby's work is not only exegetical but pastoral.

Still, Crosby's Prayer reflects a sophisticated handling of exegetical research, though he never drowns the reader in technical discussion. There is, for instance, a huge debate and puzzle (going back to the third century) about the meaning of the Greek word epiousios (generally translated as "daily," as in "daily bread") that occurs in the Lord's Prayer but nowhere else in Greek. The word has been the subject of mountains of scholarly commentary. Crosby wisely resists entering at length into the argument. He does make the interesting suggestion, borrowing from Eugene LaVerdiere, that the word may contain a eucharistic allusion, but quickly moves on from there.

I have learned much from this book, even from Crosby's discourses on economics (he is trained in both theology and economics). I am sorry that he did not spend more time referring to the broad commentary tradition (for example, the reflections by the Fathers, Cassian, Teresa of Avila, et al.), but only so much can be done in a book. I have often thought that a good theology course could be constructed by a close study of commentators on the Lord's Prayer in the twentieth century alone. We have moving words from the martyred Father Alfred Delp; extraordinary lines from Simone Weil on the Greek text of the prayer; powerful reflections by Karl Barth, and more. Were I tempted to offer such a course, Crosby's book would certainly be on the reading list, if only to teach us how to read, as Barth once said, with one eye on the Bible and the other on the daily newspaper.

Lawrence S. Cunningham is the John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

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