One Little Word

One Little Word

Submitted by Thomas Stidl

         Amen.  The meaning of the word is, “So be it”.  When we pray we end all or most of our prayers with the word, “Amen”.  The word conjures some extremely serious overtones.  What we have said in the previous prayer before amen, we are reaffirming what we have said.

         For instance, in the Lord’s Prayer, we are telling the Father to forgive us in the same manner that we forgive others.  That should be extremely scary to many of us.  All of us have held grudges from time to time against others.  It can be with our siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, neighbors, or even strangers that have cut in front of us in traffic or in the supermarket recently.  We ask God to forgive our repetitive sins with the Act of Contrition or Sacramental Confession.  How many times do we commit repetitive sin and expect God to forgive us each time this happens when we do not forgive the repetitive sins against ourselves?  Jesus told us that we must forgive all transgressions against everyone who hurts us if we wish to be forgiven.  We must be reconciled to our fellow human beings before we offer any sacrifice at his altar.  Once reconciled, we can then offer our sacrifice with a clean heart.  This will be pleasing to God.

         To the strangers who caused us grief, we must just drop the matter entirely and forgive.  To our family members and neighbors who are living, we reconcile with each other.  For those who are deceased, we pray for their immortal souls every day to obtain mercy for them and for ourselves.

         Before receiving Holy Communion, either spiritually or physically, we should always say an Act of Contrition.  I like to follow that up with the following prayer.  “Oh my God, I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You above all people and things with my whole heart, soul, mind, body, and strength.  I love my neighbor for the love of Thee, and I ask pardon for those that I have wronged and I pardon those who have wronged me in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”  This prayer is a great commentary on last Sunday’s Gospel.

         This is a sure-fire way to make your “Amen” a great “Amen”.  “So be it.”  Amen.

         Until next time, Laus Tibi, Christe.  Deo Gratias.  Gloria Tibi Domini.  Praise be to God.  See you in Paradise.  AMEN.