Pastor's Page
A message from Pastor Jorge Crespo
Pope Benedict XVI, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, states, "In his Rule, Saint Benedict coined the formula Mens nostra concordat voci nostrae– our mind must be in accord with our voice (Rule, 19, 7). Normally, thought precedes word; it seeks and formulates the word. But praying the Psalms and liturgical prayer in general is exactly the other way round: The word, the voice, goes ahead of us, and our mind must adapt to it. For on our own we human beings do not 'know how to pray as we ought' (Rom 8:26)." (Jesus of Nazareth. New York: Doubleday, 2007: 131).
The point he makes about thought and word is true and certainly profound within a liturgical tradition. The mistake he makes is when he quotes Romans 8:26 at the end of his statement. Romans 8:26 states, "In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings." (NAB Catholic Bible). We see by looking at the Scripture that it is the Spirit who prays for us (through us), but it not liturgical prayer or praying the Psalms that Paul is speaking about. The Spirit prays through us "with inexpressible groanings." This may refer to "sighs too deep for words." It is certainly something that is not comprehensible to us. They are inarticulate words.
As students of the Word we must make sure that we do not misquote the Word of God. We need to make sure that we are quoting it with the meaning it was intended. We could debate certain things about Romans 8:26, but there is no doubt that Pope Benedict XVI has misused this verse to say something that it doesn't say. We must quote correctly. We must also check out a passage when somebody else is quoting it. Let us make sure that it is saying what the person says it is saying. The Bereans were commended in the Bible for their diligence in examining the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:10-11). We need to do the same. And if Paul can be checked to see if what he says is true then no one is above Scripture.