The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-06-12
THE Jour FATHER"

Our Ogden correspondent is perplexcd, and
quite naturally, over the singular appeal to our
Heavenly Father pronounced toward the end of the
Lords Prayer.
The lead us not into temptation is much
more difficult of solution than the prevent we be-
seech the prayers or actions" explained else
where this page. In Bishop Challaner's ammo
tatons to the Rhemish translation of the Bible
from the Latin Vulgate are many lucid, if not
always satisfactory. explanations of ''many things
hard to be understood" Commenting on the 18th
verse in the sixth chapter of st. Mathew that is
on the words LEAD us not into temptation" Bish-
OPP Challoner. and, indeed, most of the annotators
of the New Testament whom we have read, tell us
that the appeal to God to LEAD us not into temp
tation" means to suffer us not to be overcome by
temptation" How they can permit themselves to
take this freedom with the Latin word 'inducas"
and the Greek ''Esensyxns' and the English "lead
us not" is beyond comprehension.
When we read in st. Paul q Cor l. 49, that
God will not suffer us to be tempted above what
we are able to bear" and in st. James O. 81 that
God is not tempter of evils; and he tempteth
no man." we are satisfied that God does not and
cannot lead us into temptation
of the first chapter of ST. Paul's Episte to the Ro
mans with the: lead us not into temptation" of
the Lords prayer.
St. Paul says, "God gave them up to the de-
sires of their heart, to uncleanliness to dis
honor their own bodies among themseves"-and
again, verse % "God delivered them up to a rep
rebate sense to do these things which are shame
full" Here, we find that God, in punishment for
the iniquties of the heathens, delivered them to
uncleanliness," Do we not read in jeremiah: al
will fill the prophets with drunkenness and [ vii!
abandon them to sim" Do we not also read that
God permitted false prophets to arise among the
people, and to deceive them, in punishment for
their sins. In Psalm x 2, read that God
abandoned them to shameful iniquities" Did not
David, Psalm XIV pray: abandon not my soul o
God, to the wicked my life to men of blood"
That is, he begged of God not to punish him for
his past sins by exposing him to greater crimes
There is limit to the patience of God so that the
time comes in the life of the wicked man when
God gives him over to his evil ways to punish him
for his crimes. Divine justice" writes the great
Bossuet in his CARNATIONS" avcnges sin by other
SIN"
We are of the opinion that dead us not into
temptation means precisely what 1t says. 1t |
means, in the language of ST. Paul. that God would
lot give us up to the desires of our hearts, or
deliver us to a reprobate sense" or abandon us
o shameful iniquties," in punishment for our past
ins.
In the sublime prayer taught the Jewish multi
ude, our Lord advises the people to pray to their
heavenly Father lest in His anger and dsquiet
lie would subject them to dead them nto) the same
xcesses and temptations visited upon their faith
rs We understand the various meanings of the
vord temptation" so often used in Holy Writ. but
ere we deal only with the word in its rigorous
ense as tending OF leading to the commission of
in, If we may twist the plain English, lead us
lot" into "do not permit us" OF suffer us not"