“Can you buy me these?” “Please allow me to do this.” “Please give me that.” These are some of my children’s requests. Sometimes their requests are outrageous, so I say no. Other times, I know they’re not yet ready, so I wait until they are. And there are times when I know what they need, so even if they haven’t asked for it, I give it to them.

Sound familiar? These sound like our prayers too. Lord, please help us get a house. Lord, please allow me to get that job. Lord, please give that person to me as my partner. And so on. I believe every father’s heart is crafted from our Father’s. Just as I would do anything to provide and give the requests of my children, more so does our Father in heaven.

Jesus knows His Father’s heart that’s why He taught us the Lord’s Prayer. The next time you don’t know how and what to pray, say the Lord’s Prayer. Take it to heart and know that the Father’s got your back. 

Monching Bueno (ramon_bueno@yahoo.com)

reflect

As you pray “Our Father” today, believe in your heart that our Father is listening to your every word. 

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.

Saint Benedicta of Laon, pray for us.

No ministry has been as effective as that of Jonah. Due to his preaching, the whole city of Nineveh repented and was saved. Yet Jonah was not happy. In fact, he was angry at God for showing mercy to the enemy of Israel. He wanted God to punish them, not forgive them. We, too, may have similar feelings toward those who have wronged us. Like Jonah, we want God to punish our enemies. It can be hard to accept that God shows them mercy, yet we want Him to always be merciful to us.

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?” 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10

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)

Gospel | Luke 11:1-4

Jesus spent a lot of time praying. Observing Jesus in prayer, the disciples were attracted to the wonder and beauty of His communion with God, the Father. Hence, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray. The best example parents can give their children is to be people who pray. As a child, I would go into my parents’ bedroom every morning and find my mother kneeling beside her bed in prayer. This was a better lesson than any catechism class on prayer. It showed me that prayer is important and something we need to do every day.

Gospel Acclamation 

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.” 

Reflect:

Is prayer at the top of your to-do list each day? 

How do you spend this quiet time with the Lord?

Read the Bible in one year! Read JOEL 1 - 4 today.

Today’s Gospel reminds us that prayer is not merely reciting words; it is connecting with the Lord. Its purpose is to bring our hearts closer to God’s heart. Prayer must be heartfelt and spiritual, not just a string of words.

It’s disheartening when some Christians are unfamiliar with the “Our Father,” one of our unity prayers as followers of Christ. Some Catholics haven’t learned or memorized this prayer, perhaps because they were never taught or have forgotten it over time. Therefore, it is crucial not only to teach these prayers but also to remind everyone of their significance. As baptized Catholics, we should all be preachers of prayer, like Jesus in today’s Gospel.

Sometimes we need to go beyond our usual practices to deepen our spirituality. We should continually ask the Lord, as the Apostles did: “Lord, teach us how to pray.” If we only know prayer as asking for something, may the Lord also teach us to offer thanksgiving. While praising God in prayer is important, asking Him for forgiveness and repentance is equally vital. If you are accustomed to speaking in prayer, try silent prayer. You can pray without speaking or thinking of anything other than a desire to be united with God, as St. Teresa of Avila did. You can also pray by immersing yourself in the beauty of nature, like St. Francis of Assisi did, or by reflecting on your day to see God’s work, as St. Ignatius of Loyola did.

Yesterday, we commemorated Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Over the years, the Holy Rosary has become one of the Church’s popular devotions. Saint Pope John Paul II called it the “Gospel Prayer” because the words we pray in each bead are derived from the Gospel. Let the Rosary, prayed heartfully and unhurriedly, draw us closer to our Lord and unite our lives to Him. 

Fr. Franz Dizon

reflection questions

How is your prayer life? How do you pray? Are you open to learning about prayer in different ways?  

Dear Jesus, we thank You for teaching us how to pray, to establish a relationship with the Father. May we grow deeply in our prayer life, and may we also help our neighbors to grow in faith. Amen.

Today, I pray for: __________________________________________