The scripture readings for today can be found at Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our gospel for today the disciples see how Jesus is so focused on prayer and relationship with His Heavenly Father. They wanted to share that intimacy and ask, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." They wanted that close relationship with God that they see that Jesus has with the Father. So, Jesus teaches them "Our Father" or commonly known as "The Lord's Prayer." This prayer has been translated into practically every language that Christians spoke over the last 2,000 plus years. It's central to who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. It has everything that we need in order to communicate with God our desires to be close to him.
Our Lord goes on, after teaching them to pray, that prayer is more than just speaking to God. It's about relationship with others. He is encouraging us, as His followers, to be available to our friends and neighbors in need. By responding to the needs of others, we are the conduits of how God answers the prayers of others. It is through us that God answers the prayers and needs of those who reach out to him and pray for their needs and concerns. We are called to be open to others in their needs. In helping others, we are helping the Lord. We are called to see Jesus in all people that we meet.
Finally in today's Gospel, Our Lord is teaching us perseverance in prayer. We are to constantly reach out in prayer to the Lord. "...ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9) Do we get everything we ask or pray for? No, but we get what the Lord feels we need. "If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13)
So be constant in prayer and know that the Lord is ever present to us in all our needs.
I have heard it said, usually by Evangelical Christian preachers, that in teaching us the OUR FATHER Our LORD JESUS was not merely teaching us a specific prayer to be recited--although it is fine to pray the exact words on occasion--but also a model for how to pray, beginning with acknowledging Who GOD is & our relationship, praise & worship, aligning ourselves with GOD's will & priorities, asking for our needs (and as Catholics our "daily bread" not only includes our needs of food, clothing, shelter & other needs, but also the Eucharist) our contrition & request for forgiveness & willingness to forgive & our request for protection from evil & sin.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE what you wrote about how the LORD calls us to be instrumental in answering the prayers of others. What a blessing & privilege!!
It is interesting that when the LORD said "Ask & you shall receive" He did not specify what we would receive. He did not promise that we would receive the exact & specific result for which we asked. Sometimes what we receive could be quite different from what we wanted. For example, when I left the corporate world of music publishing I prayed for a job that would get me into full time Church ministry, which was my dream, but instead He led me back into the field of speech therapy, which was what I had studied over 20 years before, had long abandoned & about which I had serious misgivings. But apparently the dream I had so long ago was what the LORD had in mind for me & it was a matter of His timing & getting me ready as a person to do this work & to do it by relying on HIM.