Lord Teach Us To Pray

Lord, teach us to pray
Lk.11:1

Jesus' disciples recognised the source of his power. Prayer.

I love the Our Father. It's the one prayer my mother knew on conversion from ninety years of atheism.

As a new convert I too had to be taught how to pray. My prayer life exploded on receiving baptism in the Holy Spirit. As today's Gospel Acclamation says, "...in that Spirit we call God our Father." Prayer moves God's hand. There's a wonderful mystery to this.

A friend once told me he happened to see my family and I sitting in our van at a petrol station. We were obviously about to embark on a holiday journey. He was mystified as to what what were doing, until we all gave the sign of the cross. 

Our children are adult now and teaching their own children how to pray. Prayer is not only the source of power for Jesus, it's the source of power for us.

Our Father who art in heaven...

Extravagant Lover

Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
Alleluia!

Today's Gospel Acclamation is a clarion call to the Church, heralding the preeminent characteristic of a follower of Jesus. Above all, I am to love others.

The parable of the Good Samaritan shows that I am called to love those who are hard to love, even my enemies. 

This I cannot do on my own. But it's not impossible. My help comes from Jesus himself. He doesn't set me up to fail. He wants me to succeed, especially as an extravagant lover, a pourer of wine and oil. 

Jesus, help me love the unlovely, extravagantly as you love me.

The Joy of the Lord is My Strength

Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Neh.8:10

The Hebrew people, on hearing the Word of God read by Ezra, are convicted and lament. Ezra cries out for them not to weep but to rejoice for God's Word gives life, hope and joy.

God's Word convicts, the devil condemns. Conviction turns me around and stirs me on to confession, repentance and new life. Condemnation robs me of hope and buries me in despair and death.

Today I am an ambassador for joy, for the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Lord, your Word calls me a beloved son. I lift my head and rejoice as such.
My guardian angel, please protect me. 

Hope that doesn't Disappoint

‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’
Lk.9:22

Jesus prophesies his passion and death followed by his crowning glory, his being raised up on the third day.

The predicted suffering and death of Jesus grieved the disciples much. They may have missed the puzzling appendix, "I will be raised up on the third day." The same happens to me when confronted with suffering and death. The promise of resurrection can be lost in grief.

If our faith has anything to say about anything, it has something to say about death. Like, "Where is your victory, where is your sting?" The ultimate enemy, death, has been vanquished by the ultimate victory, resurrection. Here is the source of hope that doesn't disappoint. 

Saints Cosmas and Damian, please pray for me.

Seek Him

Herod said, ‘John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he sought to see him.
Lk.9:9

Herod found Jesus hard to ignore. Love him or hate him, you just can't get rid of him.

I recall the moment I first started being curious about Jesus. My wife and I were on the last day of a Marriage Encounter weekend. My heart was softened by a renewed love for my wife. A priest on the presenting team made a passing comment. "The love you are experiencing is mere a fraction of the love that Jesus has for you." 

That impacted me, a non-believer at the time. I remember thinking, "He's either telling a fat porkie, or I need to find out more about this man/God called Jesus". Four years later I was banging on the door of the Church shouting, "Let me in. I want to eat Jesus!"

This desire for intimacy with Jesus is insatiable. The more I know him the more I want to know him more. And, he wants me to know him more as well. 

Draw me closer dear Lord, that I may touch you.

Cast-out Cure and Proclaim

Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
Lk.9:1,2

Jesus commissions the twelve apostles for their first mission trip. He does this by giving them power and authority. 

The Church Militant is given its founding mandate. Cast out demons, cure diseases and proclaim the Good News. This is what the Church was created to do. Are we doing it? 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

The Light of the World

No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
Lk.8:16

Jesus called himself the Light of the World. Receiving him brings a responsibility to share his light. 

I recall with gratitude the people who shone the light of Christ into my life. A Presbyterian minister who came weekly to my primary school class. My mother in law. My wife and even, unintentionally, my children. The faithful souls in my parish. The list goes on...

Many of these light-bearers do so unwittingly. There is simply a light about them that radiates. 

It's a bit like the radiating face of Moses after he had spent time with God in the Tent of Meeting. And there is the key to being a light-bearer. Spending time with God. 

Jesus, you are the light of my life. Help me make you the Light of the World in my world today.