Ah, by the title of this post, one might think, “Oh, he is referring to praying to God through Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, in the Holy Spirit,” as we state in the Doxology in Mass just prior to the Great Amen. Or, again, one might not be thinking that or even considering that. What I am alluding to is in reference to the order of grammar.
Grammatically, first person singular is stated by using the word, “I.” For instance, “I walked to the store.” Second person singular is stated by using the word, “you,” as in, “You went to the store.” Third person singular is stated by using the words, “he” or “she”, as in “He or She went to the store.”
In many of the Psalms, God is addressed in the third person singular as “he.” The difficulty I find with this is not only because the reference is not inclusive of the reality of God in whose image women and men are created.
My primary difficulty is that the third person singular reference to God is too impersonal. Praying to God in the third person singular I find tantamount to praying to an object, like praying to a rock, or a chair, an “it.” The relationship we, as human beings, have with objects is one of ownership, not a personal relationship. Theologically, we, creatures of God, do not “own” God, even though we may try to created God in our own image. The creature does not own the creator.
However, praying to God in the 2nd person singular form, “you”, implies a relationship that is personal and close. This requires a little mental “retranslation” as I pray the psalms during the Liturgy of the Hours. For instance, using the Grail translation of this morning’s psalm, Psalm 24. The Grail translation states, “The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its peoples. It is he who set it on the seas; on the waters he made it firm.” I retranslate this from the third person to the second person in this way. “My Lord, yours are the earth and all its fullness, the world and all its peoples. It is you who set it on the seas; on the waters you made it firm.” Is not referring to God in the second person far more personal? Is not referring to God in the second person far more prayerful?
I suggest for those of us who pray the Liturgy of the Hours, especially the psalms, to try using the second person singular in praying to God. It adds a depth to the Psalms that is sorely lacking in the third person singular. In closing, I leave your with a retranslation of the Grail translation of the Morning Canticle, the Canticle of Zachary.
“Blessed be you, my Lord, the God of Israel; you have come to your people and set us free. You have raised up for us a mighty savior; born of the house of your servant, David. Through your holy prophets you promised of old, that you would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. You promised to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember your holy covenant. This was the oath you swore to our father, Abraham, you would set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship you without fear, holy and righteous in your sight all the days of our lives. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way of the Lord, to give the people of God knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins. In your tender compassion, our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shone on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
