We dare to say?

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Ron_in_minden

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When the priest says “we dare to say” before the our father what is meant by “dare”? Is it, or should it be, that daring to say? Maybe something leftover from early Christian persecutions when it would seem more daring to say?
 
To call upon God as “our Father” in a personal, individual sense is no small thing. I think the priest’s words are a reminder of that, since those of us saying it since childhood may be desensitized to what a wonderful thing it is. It may also be referring to praying to God in the way Jesus prayed to God. I think we should always be in awe of this.
 
As posted above, it is daring (bold) to call upon God as Father, and was especially so in the day Jesus taught this prayer, as the people of that time didn’t view God in that familial sense.

Also, I think this is a translation issue as well, using dare where we might actually mean “proud” or “honored” or “humbled”.

Also, bear in mind that in the time of Jesus, people prayed via the priest more often than directly to God (or at least, that’s my understanding). In a similar way, at Mass, the Our Father is one of the few times we (the assembly) address God directly rather than via our priest or in indirect language.
 
Ron_in_minden said:
When the priest says “we dare to say” before the our father what is meant by “dare”? Is it, or should it be, that daring to say? Maybe something leftover from early Christian persecutions when it would seem more daring to say?
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Catechism

I. “WE DARE TO SAY”

2777 In the Roman liturgy, the Eucharistic assembly is invited to pray to our heavenly Father with filial boldness; the Eastern liturgies develop and use similar expressions: “dare in all confidence,” "make us worthy of. . . . " From the burning bush Moses heard a voice saying to him, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."26 Only Jesus could cross that threshold of the divine holiness, for “when he had made purification for sins,” he brought us into the Father’s presence: "Here am I, and the children God has given me."27
Our awareness of our status as slaves would make us sink into the ground and our earthly condition would dissolve into dust, if the authority of our Father himself and the Spirit of his Son had not impelled us to this cry . . . ‘Abba, Father!’ . . . When would a mortal dare call God ‘Father,’ if man’s innermost being were not animated by power from on high?"28
2778 This power of the Spirit who introduces us to the Lord’s Prayer is expressed in the liturgies of East and of West by the beautiful, characteristically Christian expression: parrhesia, straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous assurance, humble boldness, the certainty of being loved.29

26 Ex 3:5.
27 Heb 1:3; 2:13.
28 St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 71,3:PL 52,401CD; cf. Gal 4:6.
29 Cf. Eph 3:12; Heb 3:6; 4:16; 10:19; 1 Jn 2:28; 3:21; 5:14.​
 
Ron_in_minden said:
When the priest says “we dare to say” before the our father what is meant by “dare”? Is it, or should it be, that daring to say? Maybe something leftover from early Christian persecutions when it would seem more daring to say?
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Thanks to the corrected English translation, this is one of the most powerful and meaningful moments of the Mass.
  1. Recall that at the trial, one of the accusations made against Christ was that He called God “Father.” So, when we “dare” to do the same, we are united to Him in His Passion.
  2. In today’s politically correct (theologically wrong) world, I find deep meaning when I say those words “we dare to say.” I want to say “yes, we do call God Father! We surely do, and we won’t let you stop us from saying it!”
The time of persecution is not over. We are being persecuted here-and-now for daring to call God “Father.”
 
In the lord’s prayer we tell God what to do, we tell God to forgive us in exactly the same way as we forgive others. If we do not have a forgiving heart, we seem to be condemning ourselves.

Just a thought.
 
The Latin expression in the Missal is audemus dicere. This has been translated as we dare to say, we presume to say, we are bold to say. All of these mean that now, because of Our Lord’s Sacrifice, not our own abilities, we are now able to pray in the words that He Himself taught us.
 
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