Sometimes, repeating prayers often blur their value. But pausing for a while and thinking about the “Lord’s Prayer,” we can actually pick out things that we can incorporate in our own prayers.

        Jesus always emphasized the two greatest commandments: love of God and neighbor. The Lord’s Prayer incorporates these in the right priority.

         It is communal. You cannot pray it without including others. When we say “Our,” it means we think of others in our prayer.

        It is personal. When we say, “As we forgive those who sin against us,” this includes us. We need to forgive ourselves too.

     It is ecumenical. Read through it. There is nothing specifically Christian about it. Any religion can pray it without offending their own beliefs.

         It’s a family thing. When we say “Father,” we declare what God has often emphasized to us — that we are God’s children.

        So in our own prayer lives, let’s remember the lessons Jesus taught us and let God draw near to us. Rod Velez (rod.velez@gmail.com)

Reflection: Think about the most stressful person you met this week. Can you pray with sincerity the parts that say, “Forgive us our sins” and “forgive those who sinned against us”?

Lord, as we learn to pray from You, grant us the grace to celebrate our growth and also accept in humility the things we do not like about ourselves.

Jonah throws a tantrum at the Lord’s pardon of the people of Nineveh. He complains to God that he knew all along that God would relent if the people repented and now he, Jonah, looks like a fool having preached destruction of the city due to their sins. God shows Jonah that he has no right to be angry because He, God, is merciful.

1 Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. 2 He prayed, “I beseech you, Lord, is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish. 3 And now, Lord, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord asked, “Have you reason to be angry?” 5 Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it, where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. 6 And when the Lord God provided a gourd plant, that grew up over Jonah’s head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort, Jonah was very happy over the plant. 7 But the next morning at dawn God sent a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind; and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head till he became faint. Then Jonah asked for death, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Have you reason to be angry over the plant?” “I have reason to be angry,” Jonah answered, “angry enough to die.” 10 Then the Lord said, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. 11 And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?”

R: Lord, you are merciful and gracious.

3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for to you I call all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (R) 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. 6 Hearken, O Lord, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my pleading. (R) 9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, and glorify your name. 10 For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds; you alone are God. (R)

The fundamentals of prayer are simple. Prayer can be summed up as “having an honest and wide-ranging conversation with God about the state of our lives.” We cannot survive without spending time with God in prayer. The less we pray, the more sin gets hold of our lives, and we go   astray. If we want to grow in holiness, we need to spend long hours in prayer, soaking up the presence of God so that we can persevere in following His call.

You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father!

1 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.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread 4 and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

think: How does a day without prayer go for you? Conversely, when you spend time with God in prayer, what does it do to your day?

Read the Bible in one year Wisdom 13-15

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

Anyone familiar with the Gospel knows that there are many times when the Apostles were not so “apostolic,” so to speak. There were times they acted cowardly, lazy and like spoiled brats. But today’s Gospel is one of those moments when they act like true followers of Jesus. Look at their request: “Lord, teach us how to pray…” They wanted to pray like Jesus. If I were one of the Apostles, I think I would have requested Jesus to teach me some magic so I can impress some people of my own, or maybe a magic word or formula that God can never refuse.

       In some other parts of Scripture, Jesus said, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you” (John 14:13). To ask in Jesus’ name is not a magic spell we cast on the Father, blackmailing God to act according to our liking. To pray in Jesus’ name is what the disciples requested in today’s Gospel. To pray like Jesus, to pray in His name, is to pray according to His heart, His mind, His will. Whatever we ask the Father in Jesus’ name will surely come to pass if it is according to the heart and mind of God.

       Prayer, therefore, is not so much a changing of the mind of God by an irresistible force. Prayer, in its very essence, is the changing of our hearts and minds that whenever we pray, we pray for what is true, beautiful and good. Prayer is conforming our hearts to God that even when our own desires are actually in conflict with God’s way and time, we remain faithful and steadfast to Him.

       This is why Jesus asked us to pray daily, “Your will be done on earth as it in heaven.” Prayer is not conforming the mind of God to ours, whether He likes it or not. Prayer is conforming ourselves to God — then everything else will follow. Fr. Joel Jason

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

Have you transitioned from seeing prayer as a transaction to a change of mind, heart and will to God?

May Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Amen!