Sunday, July 25, 2010
Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm 138:1-3,6-8
Colossians 2:12-14
Luke 11:1-13
Persevering in Prayer to our Heavenly Father
Ask. Seek. Knock. ?(Luke 11:9)
We all have our limits. Even with our own children, we have only so much patience. Sometimes we just get worn out and can lose our cool with them.
Isn’t it amazing, then, to hear Jesus say that our heavenly Father has unlimited patience? Isn’t it astounding that he tells us to go ahead and wear God out with our requests?
Despite these assurances, we can still find it hard to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking on heaven’s door. We still love God and trust him, but a sense of fate or common sense can overcome simple, trusting faith in the God of the impossible. We get worn out quickly or we lose our focus. Perhaps we spend a day or two on a petition, but we are nothing like the persistent neighbor with his nighttime request.
Brothers, God wants us to bombard him with our petitions every day. He assures us that we cannot overdo it. Part of the solution to problems like abortion, war, illness, broken families, and grinding poverty is constant, persistent, unrelenting prayer. Our Father wants to give us good gifts. He wants to help us with our problems. So be persistent. Go to him every day, and ask and ask and ask. Never stop asking. Never give up. Never lose hope.
“I thank you, Lord, with all my heart. . . . When I cried out, you answered; you strengthened my spirit.” So prayed the psalmist in today’s readings (Psalm 138:1,3). Surely we too can cry out to heaven with patience and persistence. Surely we too can keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. Why? Because “the Lord is on high, but cares for the lowly” (138:6). That’s each one of us. He will never leave us wanting!
“Father, we ask you to heal our wounded, suffering world. Pour out grace from your throne, and renew the face of the earth. We will never stop praising you, for we know that you are faithful to the end.”
(Many thanks to The Word Among Us(www.wau.org) for allowing us to use meditations from their monthly devotional magazine. Used with permission.)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Questions for Reflection/Discussion by Catholic Men
In the first reading, we discover that Abraham had such an intimate relationship with the Lord that he was willing to contend with Him on the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord is calling all men to this same kind of intimate relationship with Him. How would you characterize your relationship with Jesus Christ? With your Heavenly Father? How can these relationships be deepened in your life?
In the responsorial psalm, we hear these words, “The Lord will complete what he has done for me; your kindness endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands” (Psalm 138:7-8). These words echo St. Paul’s words in Philippians 1:6, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” How would you describe your trust and confidence in the Lord that he will complete the work he has begun in you?
In the letter to the Colossians, St. Paul says that God has ”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” (Colossians 2:13-14). Do you believe that through Baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, all your sins were nailed to the cross? In what way does (or does not) this truth of our faith influence how you live out your day?
In the Gospel reading, Jesus gives his disciples the perfect prayer, the Our Father, in response to his disciples’ request: “Lord, teach us to pray.” When we say the Our Father each Sunday at Mass we ask the Father to “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Matthew 6:14-15, which are the verses immediately following the Our Father, goes on to say that, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” What is your reaction to these words? If there is anyone you need to forgive? Don’t delay – do it now.
The meditation ends with these words, “Surely we too can cry out to heaven with patience and persistence. Surely we too can keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. Why? Because ‘the Lord is on high, but cares for the lowly’ (138:6). That’s each one of us. He will never leave us wanting!”How patient and persistent are you in your prayers? What steps can you take to increase your patience and persistence?
(The discussion questions were created by Maurice Blumberg, a Trustee of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men (http://www.nfcmusa.org/), and currently the Director of Partner Relations for Partners in Evangelism, (http://www2.wau.org/partners/), a Ministry of The Word Among Us to the Military and Prisoners. Maurice can be contacted at mblumberg@wau.org.)
Sunday Readings & Questions