GOSPEL MEDITATION – ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE

July 24, 2022 ~ 17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Meister Eckhart asks, “Who is the man whose prayers God always hears?” He answers, “God hears the man who appeals to God as God. When, however, man appeals to God, hoping for some worldly good, he is not appealing to God at all, but to what he is asking of God. He is trying to make God his servant. On this point, St. Augustine says: ‘You pray to what you love, for true whole prayer is nothing but love!’ Thus, we pray to what we love, and no one rightly prays to God but he who prays for God and has nothing on his mind but God.” We struggle with what we want God to do and how we want our prayer validated. Meister Eckhart is correct. We often want God to be our servant. We further struggle with trusting that God knows what we need and that His will is best.

God’s will is not some predetermined outcome of events that we must simply suggest. “Thy will be done” is not an invocation beckoning us to accept a particular state of affairs passively. Rather, it is the humble and confident placement of ourselves in the presence of the God we seek, whom we call “Father.” We must remember that God is the God of life and light. It is from nothing that God brings something and from the darkness that God brings life. Prayer allows us to seek the One we love with the assurance that all will be well regardless of what course the events of our lives take. God is not about passive submission but the humble trust of love.

That’s what makes the Lord’s Prayer the perfect prayer. It provides us with proper disposition and focus, putting in line all of the essential relationships of our lives. It celebrates and fosters the ever-deepening relationship of trust we have with our Creator. It also calls us to keep open the doors of love between our brothers and sisters with the power that comes with forgiveness. If in one’s darkest hour they can find the resolve to fervently pray this perfect prayer of Jesus’ conviction, then there is no doubt that God will hear their plea, reach out in love, and bring them ever closer to His heart. What more does one need to weather the storms of life besides faith, hope, and love? These are God’s most perfect gifts and all we really need. ©LPi

MEDITACIÓN EVANGÉLICO – ALENTAR ENTENDIMIENTO MÁS PROFUNDO DE LA ESCRITURA (Gospel Meditation)

24 de julio de 2022 ~ 17º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

A lo largo de servir en el ministerio de la catequesis, muchas personas me han preguntado: ¿Cuál es la mejor manera de hacer oración? Cuando los discípulos le preguntan a Jesús lo mismo, él les participa su propia experiencia de oración: hablar con el Padre del cielo que nos ama y nos conoce y sabe perfectamente lo que nos hace falta. El Padrenuestro, oración que nos lleva a saber dónde está Dios, que Él es Santo, que nos perdona siempre, que nos da el pan de cada día, y que nos libra de todo mal.

“Pidan y se les dará, busquen y hallarán, llamen a la puerta y les abrirá. Porque todo el que pide recibe, el que busca halla y al que llame a la puerta se le abrirá” (Lucas 11,9-10). ¿Qué le pides a Dios hoy? ¿De qué le quieres hablar? El Papa Francisco nos da su catequesis sobre la oración y nos dice que: “La oración es el primer y principal instrumento de trabajo que tenemos en nuestras manos. Insistir a Dios no sirve para convencerle, sino para reforzar nuestra fe y nuestra paciencia, es decir, nuestra capacidad de luchar junto a Dios por las cosas realmente importantes y necesarias. En la oración somos dos: Dios y yo luchando juntos por las cosas importantes”. Por esa razón, Abraham, insistió tanto en su oración para salvar a Sodoma. Fue un diálogo de petición y una respuesta de amor. ©LPi