Sunday July 24, 2016: 17th Sunday “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”

Gospel – Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”  He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.  Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed.  I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?  Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?  If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

2770  In the Eucharistic liturgy the Lord’s Prayer appears as the prayer of the whole Church and there reveals its full meaning and efficacy. Placed between the anaphora (the Eucharistic prayer) and the communion, the Lord’s Prayer sums up on the one hand all the petitions and intercessions expressed in the movement of the epiclesis and, on the other, knocks at the door of the Banquet of the kingdom which sacramental communion anticipates.

2654  The spiritual writers, paraphrasing Matthew 7:7, summarize in this way the dispositions of the heart nourished by the word of God in prayer: “Seek in reading and you will find in meditating; knock in mental prayer and it will be opened to you by contemplation.”

2609   Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to “seek” and to “knock,” since he himself is the door and the way.

From “The Springs of Mercy” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (SM-116:7, SM-38:4,7)

SM-116:7) In exchange, in everything you do, you will seek nothing but My glory and the fulfillment of My Will.  You have Me like a Father; choose the path of the truth and the knowledge of salvation; lead a worthy life; labor at everything as I Myself would labor and repeat to Me with love the words: Abba Father!

SM-38:4) Ask the Father that He pardon you as you forgive your enemies from your hearts.  Ask Jesus that He ignite your hearts with flames of love.  Do not permit that you become frigid because you refuse to open your door to the Good Shepherd. Jesus is before you, in the doorway of your souls. Will you be capable of not receiving Him?

SM-38:7) Ask the Father that He accelerate the coming of the Son to shorten the time of purification. Fill yourselves with the three gifts that are necessary for a child of God: Faith, Hope and Charity.