Editing Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God (section)

== Friday, July 26: the Living God ==
Friday, July 26, we discussed the idea of a "Living God" -- we take it for granted today that our God is "living" and "personal" -- these are not obvious concepts to the ancient world, for whom the notion of "Our Father" was unthinkable. (Even some modern religions find the idea of a "living" and "personal" God abhorrent.) 

The "living God" is expressed in the "Jesus prayer," which was used similarly to today's Rosary prayers as a meditative prayer. In fact, beads were used to count recitations of the Jesus prayer, which might be recited 100 times or more at a time.

=== The "Jesus prayer" ===
<blockquote>''Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.''</blockquote>

=== "The living God" ===

* what a "living God" is not:
** an object or statue
** ritualism and superstition 
*** those are forms of idolatry, which means placement of anything above God.
* what a "living God" is:
** present
** personal
When we kneel before an altar, or pray with a Cross, it is not idolatrous, as we are praying to a representation of the living God and not an object which is seen as a god unto itself.  (The Eucharist and transubstantiation is different, but we did not discuss that.)

=== Our Father ===

* contemplating "Our Father"
We discussed how, when Jesus gave us the "Our Father" prayer he was changing our relationship to God, instructing us that we, collectively, have a Father in Heaven, and we are his children if we so choose.

To the ancient world, the notion that God was "the Father" was shocking. The "Desert Fathers and Mothers" were early Christians who escaped worldly attentions to live in isolated prayer in the lands outside of Alexandria, Egypt, and in the Holy Lands. One Desert Mother was so firmly moved by the notion of "Our Father," that should would spend three days sobbing in gratitude and wonder over those two words -- and she could never make it through the Our Father prayer!

Btw, here for the "[[Our Father|Seven petitions]]" in the Our Father prayer. (Protestants refer to it as "Lord's Prayer": it is the same.)

=== Christ reveals the Father ===
[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11?25 Matthew 11:25-27]<blockquote>''At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.'' 

''Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.''

''All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.''</blockquote>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10?21 Luke 10:21-22]<blockquote>''At that very moment he rejoiced [in] the holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.''

''All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."''</blockquote>We had a wonderful first Fast Fridays! discussion. Thank you so much for attending, and for thoughtful, inspirational discussion. Michael blew it on one thing: we didn't open or close with prayer!  That will happen going forward.