This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Prayer After Communion for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.
I am not a Latin scholar, but I do find it fun to use a lexicon to compare the Latin translations of the prayer with the English. As I studied this prayer in Latin, I discovered that there are some changes between the translations. What I found is that not only are there two requests in this prayer, there are two kinds of love.
Pour on us, O Lord, the Spirit of your love, and in your kindness make those you have nourished by this one heavenly Bread one in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.
The first change that I noticed between language translations was in the first request, found in the first two words of the prayer, pour on. In the Latin prayer, we find the word infunde, which means to pour out, pour into, and pour on.
We read in Acts 2 that the Holy Spirit was poured out, and yet the disciples weren’t just poured on, they were poured into. The Spirit does move and work in the world today, but the Spirit lives and works through us because He is in us.
Our second request is that those who receive the heavenly Bread, or the Eucharist, be made one in mind and heart. If you’re thinking that it would be impossible to make everyone think and love the same thing, you’re right, However, in the Latin prayer we ask that we would be harmonious with one pietate devotion.
The first love we find in the prayer is the Spirit of the Lord’s love, caritatis. The second love is found in the Latin prayer, where we find the pietas devotion.
Caritatis is a self-giving love. It is the love that caused the Father to give of Himself when He gave us His Son and His Spirit. Pietate is a familial love. It is the love we have towards God as our Father.
Pietate love doesn’t just happen. It comes from being loved. As John tells us in 1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” I have prayed with many people who have been abandoned or rejected by their fathers. They find it difficult to love God as a father because they have not experienced the sacrificial love of a father.
It is interesting that pietate love is perfected in God’s caritatis love. He gives Himself, we receive His love, our love and trust in Him grows and very soon we become a people who are one in heart and mind, people who are one in devotion to God.
When we do something over and over, we tend to take it for granted. If we lived in Rome and walking past the Pantheon was just part of our daily routine, we would begin to not even notice the magnificent view. It’s just another day. The same thing can happen when we go to mass and forget about the view.
I encourage you, as we enter into Ordinary Time, to make a habit to notice what you see, say and do at Mass more intentional. When you receive Communion, make a mental note that everyone, not just in your church, but everyone in the Church will receive the same Lord that day. While you can’t control what other people think or do, you can control your response to Jesus. May each of us begin to pray, “Lord, make us one in our devotion to you.”