When We Pray We Say
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Hello Everyone,
Today's gospel is The Lord's Prayer, how simply wonderful it is to reflect on one of the greatest prayers we can ever pray. Do you realize that this is one of the most spoken prayers in the entire world? Today we are reflecting on Luke 11:1-4 (The Lord's Prayer). This is an exciting prayer, one that you should and could pray all day silently, while praising Him in your heart. This prayer came directly from Jesus Himself, indeed making this prayer unique and extremely special to pray in our daily prayer life. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2, Article 1, it speaks about "The Lord's Prayer, The Our Father" Let's look at these excerpts in brief reflecting on the prayer.
2797 Simple and faithful trust, humble and joyous assurance are the proper dispositions for one who prays the Our Father.
2798 We can invoke God as "Father" because the Son of God made man has revealed him to us. In this Son, through Baptism, we are incorporated and adopted as sons of God.
2799 The Lord's Prayer brings us into communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. At the same time it reveals us to ourselves.
2800 Praying to our Father should develop in us the will to become like him and foster in us a humble and trusting heart.
2801 When we say "Our" Father, we are invoking the new covenant in Jesus Christ, communion with the Holy Trinity, and the divine love which spreads through the Church to encompass the world.
2802 "Who art in heaven" does not refer to a place but to God's majesty and his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, the Father's house, is the true homeland toward which we are heading and to which, already, we belong.
Are we filled with Joy and confidence when we pray The Our Father? Jesus wants us to address His Father as Our Father, that is so exciting. By allowing us to be sons and daughters before God, we can have the confidence and boldness we need to live our lives in complete obedience to Him. And you know, did you ever really think about the words to the Lord's Prayer? In short: Jesus is coming again; what He wants will be done in all places; He forgives us as we forgive others; please don't allow us to be tempted, and please keep us away from evil. Well you know what's being said. But with that being said, do we actually mean this prayer as we pray it? Especially the part about forgiving others? Forgiveness is huge part of our faith. Our lives will never be the same since Jesus died for us and bought us for a price. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2. Thy will be done.. I love that.
I am really into quotes, I find that they all seem to have just a speck of wisdom in them; enough to keep my mind, heart and spirit alive and urn with desire for my Lord. So here are a few I thought I'd share on the day we are speaking of The Lord's Prayer.
"It is better to say one Our Father fervently and devoutly than a thousand with no devotion and full of distraction." St. Edmund
"When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing - nothing." Saint Francis of Assisi
"Give us this day our daily bread" is probably the most perfectly constructed and useful sentence ever set down in the English language." P.J. Wingate
"The value of consistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will hear Him." William McGill
"Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things." Samuel M. Shoemaker
"When at night you cannot sleep, talk to the Shepherd and stop counting sheep." Author Unknown
"Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself."
William Inge
"We must move from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart." Margaret Gibb
"Before we can pray, "Lord, Thy Kingdom come," we must be willing to pray, "My Kingdom go."" Alan Redpath
"There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers." Teresa of Avila
"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart." John Bunyan
"There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him." William Law
"Rich is the person who has a praying friend." Janice Hughes
The Lord's Prayer
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
"Jesus, I trust in You"
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Today we pray the Glorious Mysteries
1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension
3. The Descent of The Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption
5. The Coronation
