Posted on 07/28/2007 10:57:22 PM PDT by Salvation
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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Reading 1
Gn 18:20-32
In those days, the LORD said: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great,
and their sin so grave,
that I must go down and see whether or not their actions
fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me.
I mean to find out.”
While Abraham’s visitors walked on farther toward Sodom,
the LORD remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer and said:
“Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it
for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing,
to make the innocent die with the guilty
so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike!
Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?”
The LORD replied,
“If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,
I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham spoke up again:
“See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord,
though I am but dust and ashes!
What if there are five less than fifty innocent people?
Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.”
But Abraham persisted, saying “What if only forty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it for the sake of the forty.”
Then Abraham said, “Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.
What if only thirty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there.”
Still Abraham went on,
“Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord,
what if there are no more than twenty?”
The LORD answered, “I will not destroy it, for the sake of the twenty.”
But he still persisted:
“Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.
What if there are at least ten there?”
He replied, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk amid distress, you preserve me;
against the anger of my enemies you raise your hand.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Reading II
Col 2:12-14
Brothers and sisters:
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
And even when you were dead
in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,
which was opposed to us,
he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross.
Gospel
Lk 11:1-13
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.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
“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.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
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?”
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Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. Like the Sacred Wounds of Jesus, His Precious Blood deserves special honor because of its close relation to the Sacred Passion. That honor was given to it from the beginning by the Apostles who praised its redeeming power. (Rom. 5:9 "we are justified by His blood"; Heb. 13:12 "and so Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His blood, suffered outside the gate"; 1 John 1:7 "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.")
In recent times the devotion has been encouraged by Blessed Gaspar Buffalo, founder of the Congregation of the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. When Pope Pius IX was in exile from Rome in 1849, he had as his companion Don Giovanni Merlini, the third general of that Congregation. This saintly priest suggested to the pope that he make a vow to give the feast of the Precious Blood to the entire church, if he should regain the papal territory. Without binding himself by the vow, the pope immediately extended the feast to the whole Church. On the old calendar it was celebrated on July 1, but Catholics may still continue this tradition by increasing their devotion to the most precious Blood throughout the entire month of July.
See this article from the Catholic Culture library, Apostle of Devotion to His Most Precious Blood: St. Gaspar del Bufalo.
Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
| Listen to the Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus in RealAudio |
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| Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, hear us. God, the Father of Heaven, God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, God, the Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, One God, Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world. Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, You have redeemed us, O Lord, in your Blood. |
Lord, have mercy Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy Jesus, graciously hear us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us. Spare us, O Lord Graciously hear us, O Lord. have mercy on us. And made us, for our God, a kingdom. |
| Let us pray, --- Almighty and eternal God, you have appointed your only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by his Blood. Grant we beg of you, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation, and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. |
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The Traditional Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Catholic Caucus)
Devotion to the Precious Blood
DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
St.Gaspar:Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood[AKA The Hammer of Freemasons]
From: Genesis 18:20-32
Abraham Intercedes For Sodom (Continuation)
[22] So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still
stood before the Lord. [23] Then Abraham drew near and said, “Wilt thou
indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? [24] Suppose there are fifty
righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it
for the fifty righteous who are in it? [25] Far be it from thee to do such a
thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as
the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?” [26] And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the
city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” [27] Abraham answered,
“Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust
and ashes. [28] Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou
destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy
it if I find forty-five there.” [29] Again he spoke to him, and said,
“Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will
not do it.” [30] Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will
speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I
find thirty there.” [31] He said, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak
to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of
twenty I will not destroy it.” [32] Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be
angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.”
He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”
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Commentary:
18:16-33. When interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham argues in
terms of collective responsibility, as understood in ancient times in Israel:
the entire people shared the same fate even though not all of them sinned,
for the sin some affected all. According to that way of looking at things, if
there were enough just people in the city (Abraham did not dare go below
ten) God would not have destroyed it. This way of thinking also shows how
the salvation of many (even if they are sinners) can come through the
faithfulness of a few, thereby preparing the way to see how the salvation of
all mankind is brought about by the obedience of one man alone, Jesus
Christ.
The final outcome of this episode shows that, even though he destroys these
cities, God saves the righteous who live in them. God does not punish the
just man along with the sinner (as Abraham thought); a person is allowed to
perish or is saved depending on his personal behavior. This truth, which is
found in the Bible from the start, will be given special emphasis in the
teaching of the prophets, particularly Jeremiah and Ezekiel (cf. Jer 31:29-30;
Ezek 18), who stress individual and personal responsibility before God.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Colossians 2:12-14 (Canada: Colossians 2:6-14)
A Warning About Empty Philosophies
[8] See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty
deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental
spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.
Defense of Sound Teaching in the Face of Heresy
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Commentary:
4-8. These verses reveal the Apostle’s pastoral solicitude for the
faithful of Colossae. Although physically absent, he is with them in
spirit. He rejoices and gives thanks to God for their steadfastness,
but he leaves them in no doubt about the dangers which threaten their
faith. Clearly he is referring to those who were adulterating the
Colossians’ faith by intruding erroneous ideas. By sophistry and deceit
they were trying to convince the faithful that it was better to have
recourse to angels rather than to Christ, arguing that angels were the
chief mediators between God and men.
The Christian faith is not opposed to human scholarship and science, it
rejects only vain philosophy, that is, philosophy which boasts that it
relies on reason alone and which fails to respect revealed truths.
Over the centuries, people have often tried to adapt the truths of
faith to the philosophies or ideologies which happen to be in vogue. In
this connection Leo Xlll said: “As the Apostle warns, ‘philosophy and
empty deceit’ can deceive the minds of Christians and corrupt the
sincerity of men’s faith; the supreme pastors of the Church, therefore,
always see it as part of their role to foster as much as they can
sciences which merit that name, and at the same time to ensure by
special watchfulness, that human sciences are taught in keeping with
the criteria of Catholic faith—particularly philosophy, because proper
methodology in the other sciences is largely dependent on [correctness
in] philosophy” (”Aeterni Patris”, 1).
“The elemental spirits of the universe”: see the note on Gal 4:3.
9. This is such an important verse that it deserves close analysis.
“Dwell”: the Greek word means a stable way of living or residing, as
distinct from a transitory presence: in other words, the union of
Christ’s human nature with his divine nature is not just something
which lasts for a while; it is permanent. “Deity”: the Greek word can
also be translated as “divinity”; in either case, the sentence means
that God has taken up a human nature, in such a way that, although it
was only the second divine Person, the Son, who became incarnate, by
virtue of the unity of the divine essence, where one divine person is
present the other two persons are also present.
This verse enunciates the profound mystery of the Incarnation in a
different way to John 1:14: “And the word became flesh and dwelt among
us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory; glory as of the
only Son from the Father” (cf. also 1 in 1:1-2).
When the sacred text says that in Christ “the whole fullness of deity
dwells bodily”, it means, St John of Avila explains, “that it does not
dwell in him merely by grace-as in the case of the saints (men and
angels both), but in another way of greater substance and value, that
is, by way of personal union” (”Audi, “Filia”, 84).
In Jesus Christ, then, there are two natures, divine and human, united
in one person, who is divine. This “hypostatic union” does not prevent
each nature from having all its own proper characteristics, for, as St
Leo the Great defined, “the Word has not changed into flesh, nor has
flesh changed into Word; but each remains, in a unity” (”Licet Per
Nostros”, 2).
10. Since Christ is head of angels and men, the head of all creation
(cf. Eph 1:10) and especially head of the Church (cf. Col 1:18), all
fullness is said to reside in him (cf. note on Col 1:19). Hence, not
only is he pre-eminent over all things but “he fills the Church, which
is his body and fullness, with his divine gifts (cf. Eph 1:22-23), so
that it may increase and attain to all the fullness of God (cf. Eph
3:19)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 7).
Union with Christ makes Christians sharers in his “fullness”, that is,
in divine grace (of which he is absolutely full and we have a partial
share), in a word, in his perfections.
That is why the members of the Church who “through the sacraments
are united in a hidden and real way to Christ” (”Lumen Gentium”, 7) can
attain the fullness of the Christian life.
It was very appropriate for St Paul to be instructing the Colossians in
these truths at this time, because it put them on their guard against
preachers who were arguing for exaggerated worship of angels, to the
detriment of Christ’s unique, pre-eminent mediation.
11-12. This is a reference to another error which the Judaizers were
trying to spread at Colossae and which was already treated in detail in
the letters to the Galatians and the Romans—the idea that it was
necessary for Christians to be circumcised. Physical circumcision
affects the body, whereas what the Apostle, by analogy, calls “the
circumcision of Christ”, that is, Baptism, puts off the “body of flesh”
(an expression which seems to refer to whatever is sinful in man). “We,
who by means of (Christ) have reached God, have not been given fleshly
circumcision but rather spiritual circumcision [...]; we receive it by
the mercy of God in Baptism” (St Justin, “Dialogue with Trypho”, 43,
2). “By the sacrament of Baptism, whenever it is properly conferred in
the way the Lord determined and received with the proper dispositions
of soul, man becomes truly incorporated into the crucified and
glorified Christ and is reborn to a sharing of the divine life, as the
Apostle says: [Col 2:12 follows]” (Vatican II, “Unitatis
Redintegratio”, 22).
As on other occasions (cf. Rom 6:4), St Paul, evoking the rite of
immersion in water, speaks of Baptism as a kind of burial (a sure sign
that someone has died to sin), and of resurrection to a new life, the
life of grace. By this sacrament we are associated with Christ’s death
and burial so as to be able to rise with him. “Christ by his
resurrection signified our new life, which was reborn out of the old
death which submerged us in sin. This is what is brought about in us by
the great sacrament of Baptism: all those who receive this grace die to
sin [...] and are reborn to the new life” (St Augustine, “Enchiridion”,
41-42).
13-14. This is one of the central teachings of the epistle—that Jesus
Christ is the only mediator between God and men. The basic purpose
of his mediation is to reconcile men with God, through the forgiveness
of their sins and the gift of the life of grace, which is a sharing in God’s
own life.
Verse 14 indicates how Christ achieved this purpose—by dying on the
Cross. All who were under the yoke of sin and the Law have been set
free through his death.
The Mosaic Law, to which the scribes and Pharisees added so many
precepts as to make it unbearable, had become (to use St Paul’s
comparison) like a charge sheet against man, because it imposed heavy
burdens but did not provide the grace needed for bearing them. The
Apostle very graphically says that this charge sheet or “bond” was set
aside and nailed on the Cross—making it perfectly clear to all that
Christ made more than ample satisfaction for our crimes. “He has
obliterated them,” St John Chrysostom comments, “not simply crossed
them out; he has obliterated them so effectively that no trace of them
remains in our soul. He has completely canceled them out, he has nailed
them to the Cross [...]. We were guilty and deserved the most rigorous
of punishments because we were all of us in sin! What, then, does the
Son of God do? By his death on the Cross he removes all our stains and
exempts us from the punishment due to them. He takes our charge-sheet,
nails it to the Cross through his own person and destroys it” (”Hom. on
Col, ad loc.”).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Luke 11:1-13
The Our Father
Effective Prayer
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Commentary:
1-4. St. Luke gives us a shorter form of the Lord’s Prayer, or Our
Father, than St. Matthew (6:9-13). In Matthew there are seven
petitions, in Luke only four. Moreover, St. Matthew’s version is given
in the context of the Sermon on the Mount and specifically as part of
Jesus’ teaching on how to pray; St. Luke’s is set in one of those
occasions just after our Lord has been at prayer—two different
contexts. There is nothing surprising about our Lord teaching the same
thing on different occasions, not always using exactly the same words,
not always at the same length, but always stressing the same basic
points. Naturally, the Church uses the longer form of the Lord’s
Prayer, that of St. Matthew.
“When the disciples asked the Lord Jesus, `Teach us to pray’, He
replied by saying the words of the `Our Father’, thereby giving a
concrete model which is also a universal model. In fact, everything
that can and must be said to the Father is contained in those seven
requests which we all know by heart. There is such simplicity in them
that even a child can learn them, but at the same time such depth that
a whole life can be spent meditating on their meaning. Isn’t that so?
Does not each of those petitions deal with something essential to our
life, directing it totally towards God the Father? Doesn’t this prayer
speak to us about `our daily bread’, `forgiveness of our sins, since we
forgive others’ and about protecting us from `temptation’ and
`delivering us from evil?’” ([Pope] John Paul II, “General Audience”,
14 March 1979).
The first thing our Lord teaches us to ask for is the glorification of
God and the coming of His Kingdom. That is what is really
important—the Kingdom of God and His justice (cf. Matthew 6:33). Our
Lord also wants us to pray confident that our Father will look after
our material needs, for “your Heavenly Father knows that you need them
all” (Matthew 6:32). However, the Our Father makes us aspire
especially to possess the goods of the Holy Spirit, and invites us to
seek forgiveness (and to forgive others) and to avoid the danger of
sinning. Finally the Our Father emphasizes the importance of vocal
prayer. “`Domine, doce nos orare. Lord teach us to pray!’ And our
Lord replied: `When you pray say: “Pater noster, qui es in coelis”...
Our Father, who art in Heaven...’. What importance we must attach to
vocal prayer!” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 84).
1. Jesus often went away to pray (cf. Luke 6:12; 22:39ff). This
practice of the Master causes His disciples to want to learn how to
pray. Jesus teaches them to do what He Himself does. Thus, when our
Lord prays, He begins with the Word “Father!”: “Father, into Thy hands
I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46); see also Matthew 11:25; 26:42, 53;
Luke 23:34; John 11:41; etc.). His prayer on the Cross, “My God, My
God,...” (Matthew 27:46), is not really an exception to this rule,
because there He is quoting Psalm 22, the desperate prayer of the
persecuted just man.
Therefore, we can say that the first characteristic prayer should have
is the simplicity of a son speaking to his Father. “You write: `To
pray is to talk with God. But about what?’ About what? About Him,
about yourself: joys, sorrows, successes, failures, noble ambitions,
daily worries, weaknesses! And acts of thanksgiving and petition: and
love and reparation. In a word: to get to know Him and to get to know
yourself: `to get acquainted!’” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 91).
2. “Hallowed be Thy name”: in this first petition of the Our Father “we
pray that God may be known, loved, honored and served by everyone and
by ourselves in particular.” This means that we want “unbelievers to
come to a knowledge of the true God, heretics to recognize their
errors, schismatics to return to the unity of the Church, sinners to be
converted and the righteous to persevere in doing good.” By this first
petition, our Lord is teaching us that `we must desire God’s glory more
than our own interest and advantage.” This hallowing of God’s name is
attained “by prayer and good example and by directing all our thoughts,
affections and actions towards Him” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 290-293).
“Thy Kingdom come”: “By the Kingdom of God we understand a triple
spiritual kingdom—the Kingdom of God in us, which is grace; the
Kingdom of God on earth, which is the Catholic Church; and the Kingdom
of God in Heaven, which is eternal bliss [...]. As regards grace, we
pray that God reign in us with His sanctifying grace, by which He is
pleased to dwell in us as a king in his throne-room, and that He keeps
us united to Him by the virtues of faith, hope and charity, by which He
reigns in our intellect, in our heart and in our will [...]. As
regards the Church, we pray that it extend and spread all over the
world for the salvation of men [...]. As regards Heaven, we pray that
one day we be admitted to that eternal bliss for which we have been
created, where we will be totally happy” (”ibid.”, 294-297).
3. The Tradition of the Church usually interprets the “bread” as not
only material bread, since “man does not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4;
Deuteronomy 8:3). Here Jesus wants us to ask God for “what we need
each day for soul and body [...]. For our soul we ask God to sustain
our spiritual life, that is, we beg Him to give us His grace, of which
we are continually in need [...]. The life of our soul is sustained
mainly by the divine word and by the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
[...]. For our bodies we pray for what is needed to maintain us” (”St.
Pius X Catechism”, 302-305).
Christian doctrine stresses two ideas in this petition of the Our
Father: the first is trust in Divine Providence, which frees us from
excessive desire to accumulate possessions to insure us against the
future (cf. Luke 12:16-21); the other idea is that we should take a
brotherly interest in other people’s needs, thereby moderating our
selfish tendencies.
4. “So rigorously does God exact from us forgetfulness of injuries and
mutual affection and love, that He rejects and despises the gifts and
sacrifices of those who are not reconciled to one another” (”St. Pius V
Catechism”, IV, 14, 16).
“This sisters, is something which we should consider carefully; it is
such a serious and important matter that God should pardon us our sins,
which have merited eternal fire, that we must pardon all trifling
things which have been done to us. As I have so few, Lord, even of
these trifling things, to offer Thee, Thy pardoning of me must be a
free gift: there is abundant scope here for Thy mercy. Blessed be
Thou, who endurest one that is so poor” (St. Teresa of Avila, “Way of
Perfection”, Chapter 36).
“And lead us not into temptation”: it is not a sin to “feel” temptation
but to “consent” to temptation. It is also a sin to put oneself
voluntarily into a situation which can easily lead one to sin. God
allows us to be tempted, in order to test our fidelity, to exercise us
in virtue and to increase our merits with the help of grace. In this
petition we ask the Lord to give us His grace not to be overcome when
put to the test, or to free us from temptation if we cannot cope with
it.
5-10. One of the essential features of prayer is trusting
perseverance. By this simple example and others like it (cf. Luke
18:1-7) our Lord encourages us not to desist in asking God to hear us.
“Persevere in prayer. Persevere even when your efforts seem barren.
Prayer is always fruitful” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 101).
9-10. Do you see the effectiveness of prayer when it is done
properly? Are you not convinced like me that, if we do not obtain what
we ask God for, it is because we are not praying with faith, with a
heart pure enough, with enough confidence, or that we are not
persevering in prayer the way we should? God has never refused nor
will ever refuse anything to those who ask for His graces in the way
they should. Prayer is the great recourse available to us to get out
of sin, to persevere in grace, to move God’s heart and to draw upon us
all kinds of blessing from Heaven, whether for the soul or to meet our
temporal needs” (St. John Mary Vianney, “Selected Sermons”, Fifth
Sunday after Easter).
11-13. Our Lord uses the example of human parenthood as a comparison
to stress again the wonderful fact that God is our Father, for God’s
fatherhood is the source of parenthood in Heaven and on earth (cf.
Ephesians 3:15). “The God of our faith is not a distant Being who
contemplates indifferently the fate of men—their desires, their
struggles, their sufferings. He is a Father who loves His children so
much that He sends the Word, the Second Person of the Most Blessed
Trinity, so that by taking on the nature of man He may die to redeem
us. He is the loving Father who now leads us gently to Himself,
through the action of the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts” ([St] J.
Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, p. 84).
13. The Holy Spirit is God’s best gift to us, the great promise Christ
gives His disciples (cf. John 5:26), the divine fire which descends on
the Apostles at Pentecost, filling them with fortitude and freedom to
proclaim Christ’s message (Acts 2). “The profound reality which we see
in the texts of Holy Scripture is not a remembrance from the past, from
some golden age of the Church which has since been buried in history.
Despite the weaknesses and the sins of every one of us, it is the
reality of today’s Church and the Church in all times. ‘I will pray to
the Father,’ our Lord told His disciples, ‘and He will give you another
Counsellor to be with you for ever.’ Jesus has kept His promise. He
has risen from the dead and, in union with the eternal Father, He sends
us the Holy Spirit to sanctify us and to give us life” ([St] J. Escriva,
“Christ Is Passing By”, 12).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
| First reading | Genesis 18:20 - 32 © |
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| The Lord said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sin! I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know.’ The men left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it? Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth not administer justice?’ the Lord replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them’. Abraham replied, M am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. But perhaps the fifty just men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five?’ ‘No,’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there.’ Again Abraham said to him, ‘Perhaps there will only be forty there’. ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the forty.’ Abraham said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there’. ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘if I find thirty there.’ He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there’. ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the twenty.’ He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten’. ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the ten.’ |
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| Psalm or canticle: Psalm 137 |
| Second reading | Colossians 2:12 - 14 © |
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| You have been buried with Christ, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead, because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins. He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross. |
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| Gospel | Luke 11:1 - 13 © |
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| Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’. He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray: “Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.”’ He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you”. I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants. ‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ |
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| Other Articles by Fr. Jerome Magat Printer Friendly Version |
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| My Will v. Thy Will Be Done | ||
St. Luke's account of the Lord's Prayer is a powerful reminder of the efficacy of Divine Providence. After presenting the reader with the text of the Lord's Prayer, we are assured that our heavenly Father, the addressee of the prayer, is eminently aware of our various needs and that we can approach Him with confidence and childlike trust. God knows what is truly best for us in every aspect of our lives. Given this reality, Jesus asks us to place our trust in Providence by simply stating, "thy will be done."
As simple as this formula for trust in God may seem, the believer is confronted with the daunting task of truly placing one's trust in God. Quite often, we pray, "thy will be done," but in our hearts, we are really praying, "thy will be done my way." The logical conclusion of this type of prayer is to somehow try to manipulate God's will so that He fits into our lives and our preferences. Instead of truly allowing God to direct our lives (since He is the source and end of our very existence), we can begin to view God as a lucky charm or our "go-to" miracle worker.
To sincerely pray "thy will be done," demands that the believer first acknowledge that God is more than just a part of his life. He is much more than that — God is the life of the believer and it is incumbent upon the person making supplication to remain open to what God chooses for him. Thus, the truly mature prayer is to ask God to grant our desire if it be according to His holy will and our true good, regardless of what our preferences may be.
At times, individuals complain that God "does not answer my prayers." That is not always the case. God may answer our prayers but we may not always like His answers or His way. When God allows us to experience a slight taste of the Cross in order to purify us, we can be led to believe that He has abandoned us. This moved St. Teresa of Avila to remark, "We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials." The suffering we may endure is sometimes used as a way of breaking our willfulness so that we learn how to be led by the Lord.
The fast food chain, Burger King, once ran a marketing ad whose motto was, "Have it your way." While this approach may be effective in attracting consumers, it is not the way of the Lord Jesus. His approach is better described as, "Have it My Way." As often as we pray the Lord's Prayer, we do well to surrender our will over to Him, so that His will may be accomplished in us. May our docility lead us to make His way our own, even if that may involve suffering and purification. When we possess this mode of prayer, we learn that it is in surrendering to His will that we become truly free.
Year C- Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
For every one that asks, receives; and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. Luke 11:1-131 AND it came to pass, that as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. |
I have taught you a great prayer, the ?Our Father?. When you meditate this prayer and live it, you will find great consolation, because in this prayer I am showing you the way you must speak to God. Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary
| Sunday, July 29, 2007 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
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O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help 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. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 1 |
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| The two paths |
| Blessed the one who does not follow the counsels of the wicked, or stand in the paths that sinners use, or sit in the gatherings of those who mock: his delight is the law of the Lord, he ponders his law day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing waters, that will give its fruit in due time, whose leaves will not fade. All that he does will prosper. Not thus are the wicked, not thus. They are like the dust blown by the wind. At the time of judgement the wicked will not stand, nor sinners in the council of the just. For the Lord knows the path of the just; but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. 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. |
| Psalm 2 |
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| The Messiah, king and victor |
| Why are the nations in a ferment? Why do the people make their vain plans? The kings of the earth have risen up; the leaders have united against the Lord, against his anointed. “Let us break their chains, that bind us; let us throw off their yoke from our shoulders!” The Lord laughs at them, he who lives in the heavens derides them. Then he speaks to them in his anger; in his fury he throws them into confusion: “But I – I have set up my king on Sion, my holy mountain”. I will proclaim the Lord’s decrees. The Lord has said to me: “You are my son: today I have begotten you. Ask me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for you to possess. You will rule them with a rod of iron, break them in pieces like an earthen pot”. So now, kings, listen: understand, you who rule the land. Serve the Lord in fear, tremble even as you praise him. Learn his teaching, lest he take anger, lest you perish when his anger bursts into flame. Blessed are all who put their trust in 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. |
| Psalm 3 |
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| The Lord is my protector |
| Lord, how many they are, my attackers! So many rise up against me, so many of them say: “He can hope for no help from the Lord”. But you, Lord, are my protector, my glory: you raise up my head. I called to the Lord, and from his holy mountain he heard my voice. I fell asleep, and slept; but I rose, for the Lord raised me up. I will not fear when the people surround me in their thousands. Rise up, Lord; bring me to safety, my God. Those who attacked me – you struck them on the jaw, you shattered their teeth. Salvation comes from the Lord: Lord, your blessing is upon your people. 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. |
| Reading | 2 Corinthians 7:2 - 16 © |
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| Keep a place for us in your hearts. We have not injured anyone, or ruined anyone, or exploited anyone. I am not saying this to put any blame on you; as I have already told you, you are in our hearts – together we live or together we die. I have the very greatest confidence in you, and I am so proud of you that in all our trouble I am filled with consolation and my joy is overflowing. Even after we had come to Macedonia, however, there was no rest for this body of ours. Far from it; we found trouble on all sides: quarrels outside, misgivings inside. But God comforts the miserable, and he comforted us, by the arrival of Titus, and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort which he had gained from you. He has told us all about how you want to see me, how sorry you were, and how concerned for me, and so I am happier now than I was before. But to tell the truth, even if I distressed you by my letter, I do not regret it. I did regret it before, and I see that that letter did distress you, at least for a time; but I am happy now – not because I made you suffer, but because your suffering led to your repentance. Yours has been a kind of suffering that God approves, and so you have come to no kind of harm from us. To suffer in God’s way means changing for the better and leaves no regrets, but to suffer as the world knows suffering brings death. Just look at what suffering in God’s way has brought you: what keenness, what explanations, what indignation, what alarm! Yes, and what aching to see me, what concern for me, and what justice done! In every way you have shown yourselves blameless in this affair. So then, though I wrote the letter to you, it was not written for the sake either of the offender or of the one offended; it was to make you realise, in the sight of God, your own concern for us. That is what we have found so encouraging. With this encouragement, too, we had the even greater happiness of finding Titus so happy; thanks to you all, he has no more worries; I had rather boasted to him about you, and now I have not been made to look foolish; in fact, our boasting to Titus has proved to be as true as anything that we ever said to you. His own personal affection for you is all the greater when he remembers how willing you have all been, and with what deep respect you welcomed him. I am very happy knowing that I can rely on you so completely. |
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| Reading | From a homily on the 2nd letter to the Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop |
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| I rejoice exceedingly in all my tribulations | |
| Again Paul turns to speak of love, softening the harshness of his rebuke. For after convicting and reproaching them for not loving him as he had loved them, breaking away from his love and attaching themselves to troublemakers, he again takes the edge off the reproach by saying: Open your hearts to us, that is, love us. He asks for a favour which will be no burden to them but will be more profitable to the giver than to the receiver. And he did not use the word “love” but said, more appealingly: Open your hearts to us. Who, he said, has cast us out of your minds, thrust us from your hearts? How is it that you feel constraint with us? For, since he has said earlier: You are restricted in your own affection, he now declares himself more openly and says: Open your heart to us, thus once more drawing them to him. For nothing so much wins love as the knowledge that one’s lover desires most of all to be himself loved. For I said before, he tells them, that you are in our hearts to die together or live together. This is love at its height, that even though in disfavour, he wishes both to die and to live with them. For you are in our hearts, not just somehow or other, but in the way I have said. It is possible to love and yet to draw back when danger threatens; but my love is not like that. I am filled with consolation. What consolation? That which comes from you because you, being changed for the better, have consoled me by what you have done. It is natural for a lover both to complain that he is not loved in return and to fear that he may cause distress by complaining too much. Therefore, he says: I am filled with consolation, I rejoice exceedingly. It is as if he said, I was much grieved on your account, but you have made it up for me in full measure and given me comfort; for you have not only removed the cause for any grief but filled me with a richer joy. Then he shows the greatness of that joy by saying not only I rejoice exceedingly but also the words which follow: in all my tribulations. So great, he says, was the delight that you gave me that it was not even dimmed by so much tribulation, but overcame by its strength and keenness all those sorrows which had invaded my heart, and took away from me all awareness of them. |
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| Hymn | Te Deum |
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| God, we praise you; Lord, we proclaim you! You, the Father, the eternal – all the earth venerates you. All the angels, all the heavens, every power – The cherubim, the seraphim – unceasingly, they cry: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts: heaven and earth are full of the majesty of your glory!” The glorious choir of Apostles – The noble ranks of prophets – The shining army of martyrs – all praise you. Throughout the world your holy Church proclaims you. – Father of immeasurable majesty, – True Son, only-begotten, worthy of worship, – Holy Spirit, our Advocate. You, Christ: – You are the king of glory. – You are the Father’s eternal Son. – You, to free mankind, did not disdain a Virgin’s womb. – You defeated the sharp spear of Death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to those who believe in you. – You sit at God’s right hand, in the glory of the Father. – You will come, so we believe, as our Judge. And so we ask of you: give help to your servants, whom you set free at the price of your precious blood. Number them among your chosen ones in eternal glory. Bring your people to safety, Lord, and bless those who are your inheritance. Rule them and lift them high for ever. Day by day we bless you, Lord: we praise you for ever and for ever. Of your goodness, Lord, keep us without sin for today. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us. Let your pity, Lord, be upon us, as much as we trust in you. In you, Lord, I trust: let me never be put to shame. 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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| Concluding Prayer |
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| O God, you are the protection of all who trust in you, for without you nothing is holy, nothing strong. Guide us and lead us with ever-increasing compassion. Make us make such use of the good things that pass away that we may share, even now, in the good things that endure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
Collect: God our Father and protector, without you nothing is holy, nothing has value. Guide us to everlasting life by helping us to use wisely the blessing you have given to the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
"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 (Luke 11:9-10)."
The feast of St. Martha is normally celebrated today but is superceded by the Sunday liturgy.
The second reading is from the letter of Paul to the Colossians, 2:12-14. To better understand today's reading, it is necessary to back up one verse: "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ." The "circumcision of Christ" to which Paul refers is baptism. In the Old Covenant, the rite of initiation into God's family was circumcision. In the New Covenant, this same rite of initiation is baptism. In the Old Covenant, the mark was on the physical body but under the New Covenant, the mark is placed on the soul.
The Gospel is from St. Luke, 11:1-13 in which we hear Luke's rendition of the "Our Father" and Jesus' teaching on prayer.
The Our Father is certainly the most sublime formula possible and contains the whole essence of the most elevated mental prayer. However, Jesus gave it as a formula for vocal prayer: " When you pray, say. . . " (ibid. 11:2). This is enough to make us understand the value and importance of vocal prayer, which is within the reach of everyone even children, the uneducated, the sick, the weary.... But we must realize that vocal prayer does not consist only in the repetition of a certain formula. If this were true, we should have a recitation but not a prayer, for prayer always requires a movement, an elevation of the soul toward God. In this sense, Jesus instructed His disciples: "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret.... And when you are praying, speak not much as the heathens" (Mt 6:6-7). It is interesting to note that in St. Matthew these prescriptions concerning the exterior and interior dispositions necessary for well-made prayer immediately precede the teaching of the Our Father.
Therefore, in order that our vocal prayer be real prayer, we must first recollect ourselves in the presence of God, approach Him, and make contact with Him. Only when we have such dispositions will the words we pronounce with our lips express our interior devotion and be able to sustain and nourish it. Unfortunately, inclined as we are to grasp the material part of things instead of the spiritual, it is only too easy in our vocal prayer to content ourselves with a mechanical recitation, without taking care to direct our heart to God; hence we should always be vigilant and alert. Vocal prayer made only by the lips dissipates and wearies the soul instead of recollecting it in God; it cannot be said that this is a means of uniting us more closely to Him.
— Divine Intimacy Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.
Things to Do
How many of us persist in our petitions of both God and others with a loving heart? Or do we give up after one querry?
The Our Father in the Catechesis of Teens
Our Father - In Heaven (Dr. Scott Hahn)
The 'Our Father': Appropriate gestures for prayer
The “Our Father” of “La Civiltà Cattolica” - (comparison to Muslim version)
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help 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. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 62 (63) |
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| Thirsting for God |
| O God, you are my God, I wait for you from the dawn. My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you. I came to your sanctuary, as one in a parched and waterless land, so that I could see your might and your glory. My lips will praise you, for your mercy is better than life itself. Thus I will bless you throughout my life, and raise my hands in prayer to your name; my soul will be filled as if by rich food, and my mouth will sing your praises and rejoice. I will remember you as I lie in bed, I will think of you in the morning, for you have been my helper, and I will take joy in the protection of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand raises me up. 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. |
| Canticle | Daniel 3 |
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| All creatures, bless the Lord | |
| Bless the Lord, all his works, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, you heavens; all his angels, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, you waters above the heavens; all his powers, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, sun and moon; all stars of the sky, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, rain and dew; all you winds, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, fire and heat; cold and warmth, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, dew and frost; ice and cold, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, ice and snow; day and night, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, light and darkness; lightning and storm-clouds, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, all the earth, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, mountains and hills; all growing things, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, seas and rivers; springs and fountains, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, whales and fish; birds of the air, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, wild beasts and tame; sons of men, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, O Israel, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, his priests; all his servants, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, spirits of the just; all who are holy and humble, bless the Lord. Ananias, Azarias, Mishael, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him for ever. Let us bless Father, Son and Holy Spirit, praise and exalt them for ever. Bless the Lord in the firmament of heaven, praise and glorify him for ever. |
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| Psalm 149 |
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| The saints rejoice |
| Sing a new song to the Lord, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel rejoice in its maker, and the sons of Sion delight in their king. Let them praise his name with dancing, sing to him with timbrel and lyre, for the Lord’s favour is upon his people, and he will honour the humble with victory. Let the faithful celebrate his glory, rejoice even in their beds, the praise of God in their throats; and swords ready in their hands, to exact vengeance upon the nations, impose punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings in fetters and their nobles in manacles of iron, to carry out the sentence that has been passed: this is the glory prepared for all his faithful. 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. |
| Short reading | Apocalypse 7:10 - 12 © |
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| Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen. | |
| Canticle | Benedictus |
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| The Messiah and his forerunner | |
| Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies – in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. 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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| 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 that trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. |
| O God, you are the protection of all who trust in you, for without you nothing is holy, nothing strong. Guide us and lead us with ever-increasing compassion. Make us make such use of the good things that pass away that we may share, even now, in the good things that endure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
| May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life. |
| A M E N |
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Longing to Be with the Father
Luke 11: 1-13
Introductory Prayer:Lord, I come into your presence seeking to know you better. I believe that you take the lead in seeking me. You want me to find you. I trust that in your mercy you will bring me to intimacy with you. Open my heart more today to receive your friendship. Petition:Lord, teach me to long for your Kingdom and your holiness. 1. Teach Us How to Pray. All of us carry a longing to know God and enter into a relationship with him. Those who live a deep relationship with God attract us by the peace and serenity of their lives. They know they are loved, and they can handle the difficulties of life with joy and serenity. The disciples see how deeply and spontaneously Christ talks with the Father, and they realize they are far from that; so they ask Christ to teach them to pray. We too learn from Christ how to enter into a relationship of love with the Father. He teaches us to put our trust totally in the Father’s love. 2. The Desire to Be like the Father. Jesus teaches us to ask that the Father’s Kingdom come in our hearts. He reveals to us that the Father’s kingdom is our home. When we pray the Our Father we are expressing our desire to enter into the Father’s heart. We are expressing our desire to be like the Father in his goodness, holiness, and love. Praying the Our Father renews in us a continual conversion of heart and points us to our true home. It reminds us that this home is within our reach, because the Father is intimately close to our lives and wants to help us become more like him. 3. Asking for Holiness Persistently. Jesus invites us to persevere in imploring the Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings holiness to our lives if we are docile to his inspirations. Christ reminds us that the Father wants to bless us with this holiness. But we must expand our capacity to receive this gift by increasing our desire for it. Our perseverance in petitioning this gift expands our hearts. We must not tire of asking for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must do so with great confidence in the Father’s love. Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for showing me the closeness that the Father wants to have with me. Help me to expand my heart and be like him. You are guiding my life, Lord. Help me to cooperate with the Father’s love. Resolution: I will pray an Our Father today more calmly and attentively, letting the Holy Spirit inspire me to see what small thing I can do today to help the Father’s Kingdom come. |
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| Other Articles by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph. D. Printer Friendly Version |
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| When You Pray, Who Is Supposed to Change? | ||
Gn 18:20-32 / Col 2:12-14 / Lk 11:1-13
A family was preparing to move all the way across the country. And the night before they left, their little five-year-old knelt to say his prayers: "Thank you, God, for this day, for the birds and the flowers and for all good things. God bless mommy and daddy and Tina and all my friends." The child paused for a moment and then concluded, "Good-bye, God. We're going to California."
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California: Outside God's jurisdiction?
The way we pray reveals what we think about God. And most of us make God too small. How much of our praying is really just a clumsy attempt at bribery: "If you'll do this, God, I promise I'll be good, I'll write a big check to the church, I'll always, I'll never ... whatever." As if God could be bought!
How much of our praying is like shopping by telephone: Call in your order and then wait for the delivery!
How much of our praying and coming to church is really just an attempt to buy a little insurance against bad luck! And when bad luck comes anyway -- as it always does — "Good-bye, God!" Some seats in every church are empty because God didn't perform on cue: "What good is God, if he doesn't deliver the goods, if he doesn't give me what I want? That insurance policy was a waste!"
All of this thoroughly misses the point, both as to the nature of God and the purpose of praying. God is immense and good beyond all imagining, and praying is not about changing God's mind. God already knows what we need and wants us to have it. No persuasion or manipulation is needed.
Praying is about changing US on the inside. As we open our hearts to the Lord, and listen attentively, and allow ourselves to be touched and moved within, we begin to see things as God sees them, and to want what God wants. That's the real gift that God always gives when we pray with open hearts: We get reshaped on the inside into his image and likeness, and as a result we get a taste of God's peace and joy. And nothing is too big for us to face, for now we see and experience everything through God's eyes. What a vantage point!
This is the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised us if we pray with open, trusting hearts. And it's ever so much more precious than the stuff we ask for and think we have to have.
So ask, and you shall receive ... the Holy Spirit. Seek, and you shall find ... the Holy Spirit. Knock, and the Holy Spirit will be opened to you. And you will have whatever you need, no matter what.
http://vultus.stblogs.org/2007/07/domine_doce_nos_orare.html
Domine, doce nos orare
Seventeenth Sunday of the Year C
Genesis 18:20-32
Colossians 2: 12-14
Luke 11:1-13
Making Connections
In his classic commentary on the liturgy, The Church’s Year of Grace, our wise old friend, Dom Pius Parsch, taught us the importance of making connections. He showed us how to relate the antiphons of the Divine Office to the chants, readings, and prayers of the Mass. He invited us to experience the sacred liturgy as an organic whole. Each individual part can and must serve as the key to another.
Taking It In
Rarely is there but one theme in a Sunday Mass; the liturgy is too vast, too lofty for anything like that. There are, rather, multicoloured threads running through the Divine Office and Mass of any given Sunday. One can focus on one or another of these, or one can stand back, as one would from a tapestry, and take in the magnificent whole. This, of course, requires some investment of time and study on our part. More than anything else, it demands humble prayer. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Rom 8:26).
The Divine Office
Sunday Mass can be approached in a variety of ways. But how, I ask you, does the Church herself approach it? And how does she prolong it even through her evening sacrifice of praise? The Church approaches Sunday Mass and prepares our hearts for it through the Hours of the Divine Office, beginning with the First Vespers of Sunday on Saturday evening. Sunday Vigils (or Matins) follow and, in the day’s first light, Lauds, the morning offering of praise. The Little Hours, though brief, are steeped in the graces radiating from the Holy Sacrifice. The Second Vespers of Sunday, traditionally followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrement, constitute a solemn thanksgiving for the grace of the day’s Gospel and for the mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist that fulfills it.
Looking at the Antiphons
Dom Pius Parsch would have us look very closely at the proper antiphons of the Divine Office, especially those of the Magnificat at First Vespers, of the Benedictus at Lauds, and of the Magnificat at Second Vespers. Today, I want to follow his wise counsel, and his method as well.
Magnificat I Antiphon
The Magnificat Antiphon at First Vespers placed us in the setting of today’s Mass. Here is the text given in the Liturgy of the Hours: “As Jesus was in a certain place praying, one of his disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’” (Lk 11:1). Domine, doce nos orare. To observe Jesus in prayer to the Father: what an incomparable grace! To contemplate His Face, to read there the secrets of His Heart, to receive from His lips even a fragment of His dialogue with the Father in the Holy Spirit! Did the disciples remember at that moment the word of the Father on the holy mountain, “This is my beloved Son; hear Him” (Lk 9:35)? “One of his disciples,” moved by the Holy Spirit, “said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’” (Lk 11:1).
Teach Us to Pray
There is no need to search for a particular intention in this Sunday’s Mass, no need to formulate any request apart from the one given us last evening at Vespers. “Lord, teach us to pray.” This is Church’s great desire today. All else is subordinate to this one request. This is the one essential petition. One who says, “Lord, teach us to pray,” asks, in effect, for the grace containing all other graces. Saint Alphonsus Liguori (whose feast we will celebrate this coming Wednesday) is one of the great Catholic teachers of prayer. The Neapolitan Doctor says, “God in His goodness grants to everyone the grace of prayer by which they are able to obtain all other graces which they need in order to keep the commandments and be saved.”
Saint Alphonsus
I recommend that all of you read (or read again) — as soon as possible, preferably this week — Saint Alphonsus’ splendid little work entitled “On Prayer.” It is available in any number of very readable English editions, one of them translated by the late Barry Ulanov. Here is the saint’s conclusion:
I say and repeat and will keep repeating as long as I live
that all our salvation depends on prayer
and therefore that all writers in their books, all preachers in their sermons,
all confessors in their instructions to their penitents,
should not urge anything more strongly than continual prayer.
They should always admonish, exclaim, and continually repeat,
Pray, pray, never cease to pray;
for if you pray your salvation will be secure,
but if you stop praying, your damnation will be certain.
Benedictus Antiphon
The Benedictus Antiphon this morning at Lauds gave us Jesus’ answer to His disciple’s petition. The disciple (and each one of us with him) said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” In the Benedictus Antiphon, Our Lord answers, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Lk 11:9). Here we have three promises of the Sacred Heart to each of us — but they are conditional promises. Only if you ask, will it be given you; only if you seek, will you find; only if you knock, will it be opened to you. Our Lord makes it clear that we are to persevere in prayer. Never stop asking. Never stop seeking. Never stop knocking. In a word, pray always.
Pray Always
Learn to pray with every heartbeat and with every breath. If you find it difficult, or even impossible to pray, pray for the grace of prayer. And even that is hard for you, pray to be able to pray for the grace of prayer. Again, Saint Alphonsus says, “To save one’s soul without prayer is most difficult, and perhaps even impossible, according to the ordinary course of God’s providence. But by praying our salvation is made secure and very easy. It is not necessary for salvation to go among the heathen and give up our life. It is not necessary to retire into the desert and eat nothing but herbs. What does it cost us to say, My God, help me! Lord, assist me! Have mercy on me! Is there anything easier than this? And this little will suffice to save us if we will be diligent in doing it.”
With the Blessed Virgin Mary
Ceaseless prayer, like all other graces, comes to us through the maternal mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There is in the Gospels another response to the disciple’s petition, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1), and that is the word from the Cross related by Saint John, and the example of the Beloved Disciple himself: “After that, He saith to the disciple, ‘Behold thy mother.’ And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own” (Jn 19:27). The Blessed Virgin Mary initiates into ceaseless prayer all who welcome her into their homes and into their hearts. If you would persevere in obeying the injunctions of Jesus to ask, to seek, and to knock; if you would experience the truth of His threefold promise — “it shall be given you; you shall find; it shall be opened to you” (Lk 11:9) — then consecrate yourself to Mary, and never let a day pass without praying her rosary. The rosary obtains all sorts of graces for those who pray it, but the first and greatest grace granted to souls devoted to the rosary is the grace of prayer itself.
Magnificat II Antiphon
This evening at Second Vespers of Sunday, the Magnificat Antiphon will sum up all that God would give us today: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask Him?” (Lk 11:13). These words of Our Lord, sung before and after the Magnificat, are the seal and pledge set upon today’s Mass and Divine Office. “Your Father from heaven will give the good Spirit to them that ask Him.” He who has the Holy Spirit has everything. To him who has the Holy Spirit, nothing else is wanting. This, all through history, is the teaching of the saints.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Where is the Holy Spirit given most abundantly, if not in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Every Mass renews and actualizes the mystery of Pentecost among us. One who has the Holy Spirit will necessarily pray with confidence, and pray always. “The Spirit,” says Saint Paul, “also helpeth our infirmity. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings. And He that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what the Spirit desireth; because He asketh for the saints according to God” (Rom 8:26-27).
The Priest at the Altar
The Church teaches that when, in every Mass, the priest goes to the altar to stand before it, he does so in persona Christi capitis, in the person of Christ the Head. When the priest, offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, asks, and seeks, and knocks, it is Christ Himself, Beloved Son and High Priest who, through his ministry, asks, and seeks, and knocks. The Mass is the actual presence of Christ who has entered “into heaven itself, that He may appear now in the presence of God for us” (Heb 9:24). The priest in prayer before the altar is the icon of the interceding Christ. Is it any wonder then that the Catholic faithful, through the ages, have said to their priests, “Father, remember me, remember my petition at the altar.”
Do This
It is time now for us to ask, time to seek, time to knock with boldness and confidence. “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1). “This is my body which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me” (Lk 22:19).
Posted by Father Mark on July 29, 2007 8:56 PM | Permalink
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