Tag: our Father

“Father, hallowed be your name.” | Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Praise the LORD, all you nations, glorify him, all you peoples! Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 11:1-4)

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

One of the disciples sees Jesus praying as he must have often seen him do and approaches him. The need to be close to God as Jesus is close to him stirs in the disciple the desire to know how Jesus prays. In Luke’s version of the familiar Lord’s Prayer, we hear the acknowledgment of God’s holiness and the Son’s commitment to accomplish his will. When forgiveness is ours to give to others, God is able in turn to forgive us our sins. In perfect filial trust, Jesus prays for the protection and care that only the Father is capable of. Our Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel acclamation, we hear: “You have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters through which we cry: Abba! Father!”

God, as much as I have hopes about the course of the day, its actual unfolding is not in my hands but in yours. Help me trust in your mercy and abandon all of my hopes and desires to you; do with them what you will. As Saint John Henry Newman said: “I come to you, O Lord, not only because I am unhappy without you, not only because I feel I need you, but because your grace draws me on to seek you for your own sake, because you are so glorious and beautiful.” Saint John Leonardi, pray for us!

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.

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many isles be glad. Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (MT 6:7-15)

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Jesus tells the disciples that prayer should be sincere, from the heart, rather than being a mere recitation of words. Then he teaches them what we know as the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father. Asking God for care of our everyday needs, seeking forgiveness for sins and protection from temptation and evil, the Lord’s Prayer aligns our will with God’s so our actions can also be aligned with him. When he finishes, he emphasizes one facet of the prayer: “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” Showing mercy and grace to others, just as we have received mercy and grace from God, is what the Lord’s prayer empowers us to do.

Heavenly Father, help me see the prayer that Jesus taught the disciples as my model for how to approach you with reverence and trust and a desire to know and do your will. Teach me to love and forgive others as Jesus did in every word of the Lord’s Prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

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.

“Your Father knows what you need.” | Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 6:7-15)

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Jesus teaches the disciples the prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father. In the middle of today’s Gospel, Jesus prays the Our Father and before and after the prayer, he teaches us two vital lessons: don’t babble in prayer like pagans and forgive others as God forgives us. In the notes of the New American Bible Revised Edition for today’s passage, scholars suggest that pagans babbled because they recited a list of many deities, “hoping that one of them will force a response.” Jesus instead teaches deliberate, quieting prayer that addresses the “Father [who] knows what you need before you ask him.” After praying, Jesus turns to the disciples and says: “If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” God shares his mercy in a double way: what he does for us, he invites us to do for others.

God, you know what I need before I ask. That’s a reality in prayer that I might easily take for granted and then go on focusing on my way as the best way, as the answer to prayer. Help me remember the words of your Son: if I open my heart to a disposition of forgiveness, I am open to receiving your mercy and extending it to others. Give me the grace to forgive transgressions rather than hold grudges, to let go of hurts so I can receive your will and be merciful. Have mercy on me, Lord!

From the responsorial psalm: “When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. From all their distress God rescues the just.”

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.

“Lord, teach us to pray.” | Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 11:1-4)

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

In today’s Gospel, one of the disciples observes Jesus praying. He waits until Jesus finishes and asks that Jesus teach him to pray. The form of this prayer is worded differently than the Our Father we hear in Matthew or say regularly, but the content is the same. It is the Father Jesus addresses in prayer; in it, he asks for the Father’s daily sustenance—both physical and spiritual—forgiveness and forgiving, and protection against sin and temptation. Observing from the outside looking in, the disciple asks Jesus how to pray. Through the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus invites him into the sacred space of intimacy and unity the Son has with his Father.

Father in heaven, help me come to know your love through the Lord’s Prayer. Let me take time today to say it slowly throughout the day, letting it permeate the day’s events and give meaning to them. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

From the Gospel acclamation: “You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father!” Lord, teach me to pray!

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.

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus shares with his disciples what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. Before teaching them how to pray, Jesus tells the disciples how not to pray. God does not hear our prayers better when we babble many words; he hears us and knows what we need, Jesus says, even before we pray. After saying the Lord’s Prayer with the disciples, Jesus adds: “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” Part of our “daily bread” is to ask God to forgive us just as we forgive others who have wronged us. In giving, we receive; in forgiving, we are forgiven.

God, as I pray the Our Father, help me hear each word and take to heart what I am saying. In today’s short Gospel passage, Jesus says the word forgive six times. What is there to forgive every day but trespasses (offenses) and transgressions (wrongdoing)? How many times today will I do wrong and expect your forgiveness? Just as many times, give me the grace to show mercy and forgiveness when I am wronged by a stranger or those closest to me.

You alone are just, Lord; you are mercy itself. Help me imitate your Son. From the responsorial psalm: “Majesty and glory are his work, and his justice endures forever. He has won renown for his wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the LORD.”

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.

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus follows his teaching on almsgiving by showing the disciples how to pray. The Our Father, the perfect prayer that Jesus gives to us as a way to communicate with God, is a reaching out to Our Father, who knows what we need before we ask him. Jesus tells us: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them.” In recognizing that God gives us everything we need every day and forgives our trespasses, the Our Father calls us to be merciful just as God is merciful: “Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church says this about forgiving others: “It is impossible to keep the Lord’s commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live can make ‘ours’ the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Then the unity of forgiveness becomes possible and we find ourselves ‘forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave’ us.”

God, help me understand that imitation of your divine forgiveness comes from the heart through the grace and mercy you pour forth. I ask you for the grace to have the mind of Christ in praying the Our Father and in forgiving others. Your Son called us to be perfect just as you are perfect. Perfect in me the means to receive your love so that I can be a means of it to others in mercy and forgiveness.

Work with me today, Lord, and work through me. And let me say at the end of the day that I have known the Father’s embrace.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Readings

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Reflection

Jesus said to his disciples, “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?”

Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, and he prayed the Our Father. In a parable, he then compares prayer with the Father as one asking a friend for a loaf of bread at midnight. Just as his persistence results in his receiving the bread, so the disciple receives what he asks from the Father: “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; 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.”

The first and second readings show how God hears our prayers. Abraham asks God to show mercy to Sodom and Gomorrah if only ten of its inhabitants were innocent. In Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, he says we are brought to new life through baptism and forgiven of all transgressions. The refrain from Psalm 138 is “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.” God, help me understand that in the account of you in today’s readings, you give us not only the very words your son used to pray to you but also the message of your mercy that spans generation after generation.

God calls to me today to rest in Him, to recline at Jesus’ side as the beloved disciple John did. It is a day of rest. Let me make a worthy dwelling for God in myself so that He can rest in me as I rest in Him.

Today I want to make myself present to others, not in a way that pesters them but makes my availability clear. I want to gather my family together and pray the rosary. God, if I ask for your grace to do these two things today, I know it will be done.

Readings