{"id":18855,"date":"2024-08-31T16:15:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T22:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=18855"},"modified":"2024-08-31T16:15:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T22:15:54","slug":"the-good-and-bad-about-cupichs-dnc-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2024\/08\/the-good-and-bad-about-cupichs-dnc-prayer.html","title":{"rendered":"The good and bad about Cupich’s DNC prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Two weeks ago, Chicago\u2019s Cardinal Cupich gave the opening prayer at the Democratic National Convention.\u00a0 It was in one respect, quite fitting, since it was held in Chicago, but at the same time, it merits asking whether his decision was wholly appropriate, or, rather, whether the contents of the prayer was appropriate.<\/p>\n

And, no, I\u2019m not upset that Cupich didn\u2019t make any mention of Jesus.\u00a0 Instead, well \u2014 on the one hand, party conventions are a part of our democratic system, and whether any particular part of a party\u2019s platform is in keeping with Catholic teaching, the overall objective of our system is to enable the will of the people to be heard, even that system is imperfect.\u00a0 And it is certainly fitting for a religious leader to pray, or, more precisely, to lead others in prayer that their deliberations and actions might be oriented towards doing God\u2019s will.\u00a0 But that religious leader should not by any means be \u201ctaking sides\u201d or affirming specific candidates or partisan positions, let alone ones which are divisive or go against that religion\u2019s principles.\u00a0 And quite honestly, a larger pet peeve of mine is the \u201cnon-prayer\u201d \u2014 statements of exhortation or assertation of doctrine which are not, in fact, addressed to God, but to the hearers.\u00a0 It just bugs me, and you know you\u2019ve heard this sort of thing:\u00a0 \u201cLord, we know that Climate Change is real and it is incumbent on all of us to reduce our fossil fuel consumption.\u00a0 We know that solar and wind power are the best forms of renewable energy and that nuclear energy is too risky.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Grrr.\u00a0 I find it sooo annoying when we get a sermon rather than a prayer.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here\u2019s the text, which is found at the Archdiocese website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We praise you, O God of all creation. Quicken in us a resolve to protect your handiwork. You are the source of every blessing that graces our lives and our nation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Eh, this is fine, I guess, albeit somewhat disjointed, to include a reference to creation\/environmentalism alongside a generic reference to blessings.<\/em><\/p>\n

We pray that you help us to truly understand and answer the sacred call of citizenship. We are a nation composed of every people and culture, united not by ties of blood, but by the profound aspirations of life, freedom, justice, and unbound hope. These aspirations are why our forebears saw America as a beacon of hope. And, with your steady guidance, Lord, may we remain so today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is starting to veer into non-prayer \u201cstatement\u201d territory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In every generation, we are called to renew these aspirations, to re-weave the fabric of America. We do so when we live out the virtues that dwell in our hearts, but also when we confront our failures to root out ongoing injustices in our national life, especially those created by moral blindness and fear of the other.<\/p>\n

We pray for peace, especially for people suffering the senselessness of war. But as we pray, we must also act, for building up the common good takes work. It takes love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is getting into sermonizing.\u00a0 \u201cAs we pray, we must also act\u201d is a statement directed at the audience, not at the object of the prayer, that is, God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And so we pray: May our nation become more fully a builder of peace in our wounded world with the courage to imagine and pursue a loving future together. And may we as individual Americans become more fully the instruments of God\u2019s peace.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is fine, I guess, though I have the feeling Cupich is trying to be vague about things.\u00a0 Is he referring the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and elsewhere, and praying that the United States would \u201cbuild peace\u201d abroad?\u00a0 What is a \u201cloving future\u201d?\u00a0 I suppose that just strikes me as an odd turn of phrase, meant to reference his prior rhetoric that \u201cbuilding up the common good\u201d takes \u201clove\u201d \u2014 which is perhaps meant to reference \u201clove your neighbor as yourself\u201d but in the bigger picture of ending injustices, I think the idea of \u201clove\u201d isn\u2019t really the right path.\u00a0 Too often the desire to be \u201cloving\u201d generates bad public policy: we increase government spending because it\u2019s the \u201cloving\u201d thing to do and cutting the deficit doesn\u2019t make the cut because there\u2019s no \u201clove\u201d there, just fiscal responsibility.<\/em><\/p>\n

Guide us, Lord, in taking up our responsibility to forge this new chapter of our nation\u2019s history. Let it be rooted in the recognition that for us, as for every generation, unity triumphing over division is what advances human dignity and liberty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is where it really starts to grate on me.\u00a0 Why is the 2024 Democratic National Convention a \u201cnew chapter of our nation\u2019s history\u201d?\u00a0 It\u2019s a party convention, and these occur every four years.\u00a0 For this to be a \u201cnew chapter\u201d and for it to reflect \u201cunity triumphing over division\u201d is to endorse the Democrats\u2019 rhetoric on these points, that Kamala Harris, despite being the current Vice President, represents a \u201cchange\u201d from the Biden-Harris administration, which is a misstep Cupich shouldn\u2019t have made.<\/em><\/p>\n

Let it be propelled by the women and men elected to serve in public\u00a0life, who know that service is the mark of true leadership.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This isn\u2019t partisan but just a bland statement of fact that doesn\u2019t belong in a prayer.<\/em><\/p>\n

And let this new chapter of our nation\u2019s history be filled with overwhelming hope, a hope that refuses to narrow our national vision, but rather, as Pope Francis has said, \u201cto dream dreams and see visions\u201d of what by your grace our world can become.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ugh. This is another reference to the candidates\u2019 theme and an implicit endorsement, that this is a \u201cnew chapter\u201d and is \u201cfilled with overwhelming hope,\u201d and is made worse by a random reference to Pope Francis, for no value other than a sort of name-checking. I\u2019m not opposed to a religious leader leading a prayer with reference to that religion\u2019s deity, but to avoid Jesus\u2019s name but toss in Pope Francis?\u00a0 This goes back to Cupich\u2019s statements in the past that he is all about \u201cfollowing Pope Francis\u2019s teachings\u201d rather than the teachings of the Catholic church.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We ask all of this, trusting in your ever provident care for us. AMEN<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that\u2019s that.<\/p>\n

Are all Cupich\u2019s public prayers this lousy?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, though it wouldn\u2019t surprise me.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the end of the world.\u00a0 He\u2019s not expressly endorsing a candidate, nor is he hosting any particular candidate at the cathedral.\u00a0 And perhaps it\u2019s bad prayer-writing rather than intentionally aligning himself with the candidates and convention-goers.\u00a0 But it\u2019s still annoying.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ABlase_Joseph_Cupich_(cropped).jpg;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, Chicago\u2019s Cardinal Cupich gave the opening prayer at the Democratic National Convention.\u00a0 It was in one respect, quite fitting, since it was held in Chicago, but at the same time, it merits asking whether his decision was wholly appropriate, or, rather, whether the contents of the prayer was appropriate. And, no, I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":6383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69,1156],"class_list":["post-18855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-archbishop-cupich","tag-cupich"],"yoast_head":"\nThe good and bad about Cupich's DNC prayer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two weeks ago, Chicago's Cardinal Cupich gave the opening prayer at the Democratic National Convention.\u00a0 It was in one respect, quite fitting, since it\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2024\/08\/the-good-and-bad-about-cupichs-dnc-prayer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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