Vol.5 No. 46 DoM Gospel Reflection
17th Sunday Ordinary Time/ July 24, 2016
Luke 11:1-13
By Rosemary Henry (transcribed from audio)
My reflection begins with Psalm 115, “Not to us O Lord, but to your name I give glory.”
We read Sunday the ‘Our Father’ from the Gospel of Luke. I chose however to do the reflection on Matthew’s translation, 6:8-14. I chose this one because the Church uses Matthew’s version. The Church has placed the Lord’s Prayer right after Eucharistic prayer at the liturgy. Also, we are familiar with Matthew’s version. The Church in her wisdom chose Matthew, and in my wisdom, I follow the Church. There are over 400,00 priests who say Mass every day, and so, the Our Father is said thousands of times a day. Most of us say the ‘Our Father’ at least once a day.
Let us analyze what Jesus says in the ‘Our Father.’ Many times we are not conscientious about the words we say. The ‘Our Father’ is our family prayer. God is our Father. We are his children. This is the prayer that has been given to us by Jesus.
Before Jesus met with the disciples he was in desert for 40 days praying for guidance. In Matthew’s gospel, the apostles had not yet been chosen. When Jesus teaches the Lord’s prayer he is teaching all disciples. He teaches us to pray the way the Father wants us to pray. There are 3 Thy’s and 4 ‘Gimmes” in the Our Father. The prayer is a radically different way for people to pray in that day. The Jews did say the name of God. But Jesus used the familiar form for the word Father—Abba—Daddy!
My life experience with a family of 7 children is part of this reflection. On Sundays, my daddy would take the older children to Mass. When I was too young to go to Mass, my daddy would come home from Mass and my brother and I would sit on daddy’s lap. Momma would bring a gumbo-size cup full of coffee, made mostly from cream and sugar. We would pour our Rice Krispies into the cup and eat, as we sat in daddy’s lap. It was messy, but daddy loved us enough to be with us in the mess. I think of God who is loving and forgiving—just as a my daddy. We think of God in terms of the love of daddy—loving and forgiving. We bring great joy to him.
‘Heaven’ is an important word used in the ‘Our Father.’ The Mass refers to Heaven: ‘Holy holy holy, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world—these are heavenly words. Lamb of God in fact is mentioned 22 times in the Book of Revelation, which has many words used in our Mass. The scribes who translated the Scripture would get enthusiastic and scribble notes of praise and worship in the margins. Praise God, Lamb of God, etc. are part of those notes. These are words of the Mass. God is with us—Heaven is a part of our Mass. We are told to be holy—God commands us to become holy. God is Our Father—we are his children. He wants our holiness, because we all belong with Our Father in heaven.
‘Thy kingdom come,thy will be done,”—these words are clear. Gods will, will be done. We are to align ourselves with God’s will. Put God’s will first. Accept God’s will, regardless of outcome. Accept God’s will, let that be the focus of all you do. We pray petitions, okay God I need this, please help this person or that. Jesus tells us that the proper order is honoring God, praising God, thanking God and then go to the ‘gimmes.”
‘Give us this day, our daily bread,’ refers back to Old Testament when Moses asks for bread. Jesus says, ‘Give us this day—our daily bread. ‘ These words are translated in Greek as ‘super-substantial bread,’ St. Jerome stated. In other words, this is the bread of the spiritual life.
‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ Jesus tells us this. We must forgive first. Whether or not our forgiveness is accepted, matters not. What is important is that we do not hold grudges. We cannot afford to hold grudges. We cannot afford to judge. We cannot afford to gossip. We cannot afford to think that others’ offenses are worse than ours. ‘Love your enemies, ‘ Jesus tells us. ‘If you forgive others, your heavenly father will forgive you,” Jesus tells us this in Matthew’s Gospel.
‘Lead us not into temptation,’ that is, when we are tempted, be there for us. Do not let us yield to temptation. Guard our hearts Lord.
“Deliver us from evil.” Let evil pass us by. Let us let evil go. May God’s Spirit help us. Remember we are each a child of God.
What does ‘Amen’ mean? It means Yes. It means Let it be. It means, “I will die for this.” Amen.
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