My dad drove for me everywhere when I was a child—to school, the mall, or ballet classes. Every day, he would drop me off and pick me up after my activities. As I grew older, I hesitated to ask him for rides. I figured I was old enough to handle it on my own. Yet, when the need arose, I’d be anxious to ask him for fear of rejection.

But to my surprise, whenever I asked, even in busy or inconvenient times, he’d make time to drive for me. All I needed to do was ask and trust that my father loved me.

Today’s Gospel reminds us of this: We are God’s children, and no request is too much for those He loves.

Are there desires we hesitate to voice out for fear of rejection? The Gospel encourages us to enter the inner room and approach our Father with childlike trust. With confidence, we can pray to Him, knowing He understands our needs and loves us unconditionally.

Present your longings and fears before our Father today. He eagerly awaits, ready to meet the prayers of your heart with His immeasurable love. Tisha Alyssa Caro (caro.tisha@gmail.com)

reflect

Fearing rejection? You are loved! Express your needs and desires  boldy to others and to God.

Father, I present my needs to You with childlike trust. May You fulfill them according to Your divine wisdom. Amen.

Saint Romuald, abbot, pray for us.

Paul warns us about false teachers and false apostles who can lead us astray. There will always be people who seek personal gain from the Gospel contrary to its true spirit. Let us never be part of this. The Church provides us with guidelines regarding the truth of the Gospel proclamation and how to understand its various aspects that have been developed over the last two thousand years.

¹ Brothers and sisters: If only you would put up with a little foolishness from me! Please put up with me. ² For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. ³ But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ. ⁴ For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough. 5 For I think that I am not in any way inferior to these “superapostles.”  ⁶ Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. ⁷ Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the Gospel of God to you without charge? ⁸ I plundered other churches by accepting from them in order to minister to you. ⁹ And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 1⁰ By the truth of Christ in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 111:1-2, 3-4, 7-8

R: Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.

¹ I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart in the company and assembly of the just. ² Great are the works of the Lord, exquisite in all their delights. (R) ³ Majesty and glory are his work, and his justice endures forever. ⁴ He has won renown for his wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the Lord. (R) ⁷ The works of his hands are faithful and just; sure are all his precepts,  ⁸ reliable forever and ever, wrought in truth and equity. (R)

Gospel | Matthew 6:7-15

The Our Father prayer that Jesus teaches us is a comprehensive one. Take time to study it and you will discover its elements of praise, petition, request for provision, giving and receiving forgiveness, and facts about God’s divinity and His worthiness of praise. Let us follow this prayer model for our prayer times. 

Gospel Acclamation

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

⁷ 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. ⁸ Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹ “This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, ¹⁰ thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us today our daily bread; ¹² and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; ¹³ and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil.’ ¹⁴ “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

 Read the Bible in one year! Read 2 KINGS 19 - 22 today.

It is important to examine our motivations for serving the Church. If it is to draw attention to ourselves and to pat our backs, then we need to pray for a better motivation. When it comes to seeking self-acclaim, we know that we are in the wrong business if we are ministering in the Church. In the Church, all the glory belongs to God, not to us. It takes a significant amount of humility to lead well in religious circles because people are so ready to exalt a good leader and place him on some sort of spiritual pedestal. It does not matter how effective someone is as a preacher. It is never a good idea to exalt him to the point that he receives the glory that rightly belongs to God.

Yes, it is good to affirm and encourage one another in our ministries, but let us keep it to that. It is easy to develop a sense of “I am essential for this work to happen.” Even if it is true, this is only so because God has gifted you with the gifts to perform that ministry.

What should we do when others exalt us more than they should? We should politely decline anything that does not indicate that God is the one being given the glory. We need to be careful not to offend people, but we also need to be always mindful that we direct the glory to God and not to ourselves. 

Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

reflection questions

Do you have a problem with having delusions of grandeur about your importance to a particular ministry or mission in which you are involved? If so, what are you going to do about it to rectify the situation?

Holy Spirit, help me grow in humility and truth today so that my life will always give to God all the glory and hold nothing back for myself. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ______________________________