163.8月3日天主經－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

Often we pray the Lord’s Prayer, with the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It refers not so much that material food, which is the support of the body, as the Eucharistic bread which should be our daily food.

我們經常念天主經，懇求說：「賜給我們日用的食糧。」它指的與其說是物質上的食物，不如說是身體的所需，而且是指聖體聖事，它應該是我們日常的食物。

But then here is the puzzle. Why is it that many who pray this prayer do not, as a rule, make an effort to attend daily Mass and receive the Eucharist each day? They ask for daily supersubstantial bread; it is there to be received, but some do not receive it.

但這就是個迷失，為什麼許多用天主經祈禱的人，通常不會努力地參與平日彌撒，並且每天領受聖體聖事呢？他們要求每天吃超性的麵餅；它在那裡被接納，而有些人卻不接納它。

In general, the situation is alright. One might say, our prayer has been answered; God has indeed given us our daily food, most abundantly. He has upheld his end of the bargain, so to speak.

總而言之，情況還好。有人可能會說，我們的祈禱獲得了回應；天主確實給了我們最豐富的日用食糧。可以這麼說，祂堅守住了自己的承諾。

The problem is that we don’t realize. And why would one expect God to answer that prayer? Only a fool would pray, “God, bring me my cup of coffee,” and complain if it were not answered.

問題是我們並沒有意識到，為什麼人們會期望天主回應這個祈禱呢？只有傻瓜才會祈禱說：「天主，給我一杯咖啡吧！」如果沒有獲得回應，他就會抱怨。

My puzzle then becomes: why haven’t we been changed by praying the Lord’s Prayer?

Part of the problem, surely, is that we think of vocal prayer as “artificial” because it is not a spontaneous and “sincere” expression of what we naturally think.

我的迷失就變成了：為什麼我們沒有藉由天主經而改變呢？

當然，部分問題在於，我們認為口禱是「人為的」，因為它不是我們自然的想法，自發和「真誠」地表達。

Or we suppose that vocal prayer’s main use is to solve a coordination problem: when many of us are together, the only way we can pray the same thing is by following a set text.

或者我們假設口禱的主要用途，是為了解決所協調問題：當我們中間許多人在一起時，我們唯一可以祈禱同樣的事情，這樣的方法就是遵循固定的經文。

Or we imagine that the recital of a vocal prayer is a ritual, which confers grace through its mere performance.

或者我們想像，誦念口禱是一種儀式，它只是藉由呈現的方式來賦予恩典。

Some suppose that “daily bread” refers to the necessary means of life, solely. They view the petition as a humble admission of our reliance on God and also as an implicit commitment to keep our needs modest.

有些人認為「日用食糧」，僅指必要的生活物資。他們認為這個祈求，如同謙遜地承認我們對天主的依賴，並且對我們保持適度需求的隱含承諾。

It is that, of course, but it is infinitely more. St. Thomas says, “A vocal prayer is an ‘interpreter’ of our desires before God.” An interpreter is a middleman, a mediator, a broker, a negotiator who knows how to say the right thing.

And then, if this mediator was skillful, wouldn’t we correct and adjust our intentions, to match precisely what he said? The Lord’s Prayer is like that.

當然是這樣的，但它是無限的。聖多瑪斯說道：「大聲地祈禱是我們在天主面前，我們願望的『詮釋者』。」詮釋者是中間者，是協調者，經紀人，知道如何正確說話的談判者。

然後，如果這位協調者是專業的，我們難道不會糾正和調整我們的意向，好完全符合祂所說的話嗎？天主經就是這樣。

St. Thomas says, that “in the Lord’s Prayer not only do we ask for all that we may rightly desire, but also in the order we should desire them, so that this prayer not only teaches us to ask, but also organizes all our affections.”

聖多瑪斯說：「在天主經中，我們不僅要求我們一切適當的渴望，而且按照順序提出我們所渴望的，如此一來，這個禱文不僅教導我們祈求，而且組織我們所有的感情。」

Consider some heretics, stubborn sinners; the Lord’s Prayer, as “interpreter,” instructs us, first, to pray for them—and then, to “forgive those who trespass against us.”

考慮到一些異端及頑固的罪人們；天主經就是「詮釋者」，教導我們，首先，為他們祈禱，然後，「寬恕那些冒犯我們的人。」

Moreover, “We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26).

除此之外，「因為我們不知道我們如何祈求纔對，而聖神卻親自以無可言喻的歎息，代我們轉求。」（羅8：26）