October 8, 2014

Gospel LK 11:1-4

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.”

Reflection….

I find it interesting that this is the Gospel reading for today.  In my Religion classes, we are studying prayer. The words “Lord, teach us to pray…” are so appropriate and fitting because we have spent the past week or so learning about prayer. So, as it often does, this really hits home.  I relate to Jesus as he teaches his disciples about prayer, and I attempt to teach my students about prayer too.

I have taught my students that we should praise God and thank Him.  We should apologize to Him for the times in our day where we strayed from what He intended us to do, where we were imperfect, where we were human.  We should thank Him for the many blessings He has given us. We should then ask for His help for ourselves and for those around us.  In reading the words that Jesus told the disciples to pray, he teaches them to do the same.

Jesus teaches them to pray the Our Father.  When we pray it at mass, this is one of my favorite parts.  I especially like when we hold hands and pray the words together.  This is a change for me.  I would say it has been a favorite part for me for about 6 or 7 years now, but before that, when it came time to join hands, I always felt a bit uncomfortable.  I didn’t know the “strangers” that sat next to me, and honestly, I wasn’t real sure about reaching out to take their hand.  I have to assume it was because it wasn’t something I was used to doing, and it does not feel natural to just take hold of a stranger’s hand.  Now, however, I feel such a connection to the person who is on my right.  Some member of my family is generally on my left, but I somehow feel like the person on my right is part of my family too. 

As a faculty, we join hands and pray the Our Father before we start our day. For a moment, we are all connected.  We are one.  We are powerful.  We are Catholic.  We are family.

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