Tag: Prayer

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said, “Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

As Jesus goes toward Jerusalem with the Twelve disciples, he tells them that he will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, condemned to death, mocked, scourged, and crucified, and then raised on the third day. About that time, the mother of James and John asks that Jesus command that her two sons sit beside him in his kingdom. He said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” The other disciples are disturbed at hearing this, but Jesus says that among them, authority is not flaunted as it is among the Gentiles. Instead, Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” Jesus served by giving his life as a ransom for many. What will God present to me today as an opportunity to serve others?

God, help me see today’s Gospel account in relation to this day. It isn’t likely that by serving others today I will give to the point of agony. Yet, in whatever way I do serve, help me remember to do this in unity with your suffering for the glory of your Father. Jesus said to James and John, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give.” Give me today, God, the knowledge of your will and the courage to carry it out with love.

Lord, when the mother of James and John approached you, you asked her, “What do you wish?” Just as you were attentive to her, you hear whatever I ask. Give me the grace today to remember to ask for what I need and hear your response. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

These words from today’s Gospel follow Jesus’ denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees. Although not rejecting them altogether as he says do and observe what they tell you, he tells the people not to follow their example because they don’t practice what they preach. They burden people yet do nothing to ease their burden. They perform works to be seen, and they love places of honor at banquets, in synagogues, in marketplaces, and the salutation “Rabbi.” Of this, Jesus says, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ.” What places of honor do I go routinely seeking, even among family members, and how can I find ways to humble myself instead?

God, you guide us through the words and actions of your Son away from the pursuit of honor and pride. Rather than giving you glory, seeking honor and upholding pride result in a sustained delusion of one’s worth and the mistreatment of others. “You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers,” Jesus says. Open my eyes, Lord, to the dignity of my brother and sister, however I encounter them today, and let me be their servant in accomplishing your will. “He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me,” today’s Psalm says, “and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” Let me praise you alone, God, for your glory.

Lord, in the commotion of this day, give me the grace to remember that you are my one Father in heaven. Stay with me; show me the way to accomplish the work of the day as I do your will and put mine aside.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

In today’s reading, Jesus speaks not to the scribes and Pharisees but to his disciples. He speaks privately to them about mercy, forgiveness, and generosity. He tells them to stop judging and stop condemning, which echoes the proscriptions of the Ten Commandments, such as “You shall not steal” and “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Then Jesus goes on to name other ways to be merciful: “Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.” For every act of mercy, mercy is returned. “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

God, help me understand the overflowing measure of your mercy. It isn’t the result of a kind of recompense, where the measure of mercy given comes back as a reward for being merciful to others. Instead, you invite us to be merciful as you are merciful and to forgive as you forgive. You set the standard high yet are merciful when we fail to reach it. “So be perfect,” Jesus says, “just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Yet for every wrong I acknowledge in my heart and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you restore me to your grace and friendship in forgiveness. And the measure of it you give is “packed together, shaken down, and overflowing.” There is no greater model for this kind of mercy than Jesus your Son.

From the Gospel acclamation, let me remember today: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

While [Peter] was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, 
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

Matthew describes the Transfiguration of Jesus and its overwhelming effect on its witnesses Peter, James, and John. It is as if the appearance of Moses and Elijah is just enough for them. Seeing Jesus’ face shine like the sun as he converses with the two prophets, Peter suggests that they build three tents, one for each of them. And then, even as he is still speaking, Peter and the others hear the voice of God speaking to them from a bright cloud that overshadowed them. The disciples fall prostrate in fear, and it is Jesus’ touch and gentle command “Rise, and do not be afraid” that allow them to raise their eyes.

God, help me take in today’s reading. I can’t know what it means to experience the Transfiguration as the disciples experienced it. Fear and awe follow it as the disciples hear your voice on the mountain. Seeing their fear, Jesus touches them and commands them to rise and be unafraid. Yet, what I have access to, the disciples did not have: your presence in the Eucharist and in the sacraments. Is there any less awe and fear in knowing that you are present in that form, no less real than you were present to the disciples? Lord, let me hear and know your voice today with the reverence it deserves, and let me rise unafraid to do your will.

From the prayer of Saint Padre Pio after Holy Communion: “Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the disciples about love of enemies as part of the Sermon on the Mount. He teaches them about the fulfillment of Mosaic law, about anger, adultery, divorce, and retaliation. In today’s passage on love of enemies, Jesus begins with the Old Testament way of thinking—love your neighbor and hate your enemy—and turns it upside down by telling the disciples to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. The reason for this, Jesus goes on to say, is so that the disciples may be children of the heavenly Father.

God, help me understand your ways. To love my enemies is to go against instinct and to call me to perfection. “So be perfect,” Jesus says, “just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Part of what makes it hard to love my enemies is to admit that I have enemies and hold grudges that keep them my enemies. Open my eyes, God, to my inability to pray for those who have hurt me and forgive them; help me make a return to you in childlike love and trust.

Teach me, Jesus, to love my enemies—the ones I encounter today and the ones I don’t see coming—so that your Spirit within me prays for them and forgives them. Lord, let me know you are near!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

In today’s Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples about the necessity of righteousness and reconciliation. What good is a gift or sacrifice of any kind if behind it lies resentment and division. First, Jesus says, reconcile with your brother and only then offer your gift. Jesus tells his disciples to forgive others not to suggest the foundation of a new social order but to offer us life itself, everlasting life. As the Lord says in the first reading from Ezekiel: “If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”

God, help me understand that what your Son tells me in today’s Gospel, I hear whenever I pray the Our Father: forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Out of your mercy and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you forgive me my sins. How can I be merciful to others unless I recognize the depth of your mercy? “If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.” Through reconciliation with my brother and with you, I am able to come to you in the Eucharist with the gift of self, freed from sin and division.

Lord, let me remember today to trust in your mercy: to ask for it, to be merciful, and to completely trust in it.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.”

Jesus relates to the disciples the need to pray sincerely. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” In these short teachings, Jesus makes clear the need to ask, seek, and knock in prayer. In response, God’s perfect generosity is poured out in return. Although what we receive in prayer may not be exactly what we asked for, Jesus tells us that it will be so much more than what a father offers his son to sustain him.

God, help me take to heart two simple things your Son tells me about prayer: ask and receive. In order to receive the good things you give me, open my eyes to see that your will being done, not mine, is the good that I often fail to recognize. I want to remember today to ask you for help in knowing and doing your will, and I want to receive with a widened heart the good you give me that I might otherwise not see.

Lord, here I am before you. I ask for the grace today to know that you are with me. Let me recognize in the succession of moments that make up the day that as a loving Father you always give good gifts. Help open my hands to receive those gifts.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

“This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus refers to the first reading from Jonah, who traveled throughout Nineveh, announcing that in forty days the city would be destroyed. But when the king of Nineveh heard Jonah’s announcement, he called for man and beast alike to be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God, turning from evil and renouncing violence. Their faith in God’s mercy saved them: “When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,” Jonah says, “he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.” Jesus compares himself to Jonah, but as Jesus says of himself as the savior of all through his death and resurrection, “there is something greater than Jonah here.”

God, open my eyes to the meaning of the Gospel as it relates to this day. No sign will be given this generation, says Jesus, except the sign of Jonah. Jesus’ sign as the Son of God would mean that through his Passion, death, and resurrection, repentance would lead not only to a new life in him but in everlasting life. Father in heaven, your Son is your final word. He is what he points to: the God of the living. The invitation to share in eternal life with the Father begins through repentance and recognizing the need to return to you. From the Gospel acclamation: “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart for I am gracious and merciful.”

Thank you, Lord, for your loving presence. Let me rest in that today and make a place for it in my heart. “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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