Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 22, 2017 - Thursday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 11:1-11 and Matt 6:7-15]THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2017. THURSDAY IN THE ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [St. Thomas More, lawyer and martyr] [2 Corinthians 11:1-11 and Matthew 6:7-15] "In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: '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.'" Many weighty volumes have been written about the 'Lord's Prayer.' (Or, as we Catholics are fond of calling it, 'the Our Father'). The prayer is a simple one, in distinction, as Jesus noted, to the elaborate prayers of the pagans. (We Catholics could benefit more from that advice, given the length of some of our popular devotions!). In preaching parish missions, I focus on the lines about forgiveness because Jesus adds at the end of the prayer some blunt words about forgiving others if we expect God to forgive us! The sheer familiarity of the "Lord's Prayer' makes it a kind of "comfort prayer" instead of a challenge. If we want God's kingdom to come, we must do more than pray for it. If we want God's will to be done, we have to live it. If we want daily bread, we must work alongside the Lord to make it. Hardest of all is forgiving so that we too may be forgiven. Freedom from temptation and evil will be a constant effort on God's and our part. We cannot do any of these things without God's help. Much good could come from praying as Jesus teaches us if only we didn't say those words so quickly and casually and made them our intentional daily agenda! AMEN
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