Thursday June 21
Introduction
The reading from Sirach is a hymn of praise in honor of the fiery prophet Elijah.
In the words of Jesus, Matthew gives us today a catechesis on prayer. The reason and basis of our prayer should not only be merely that we need something and we should not think that our prayer is more powerful when we use a stream of words. We pray because Jesus asks us to and because we have trust in our Father who knows what we need even before we ask him. In our prayer we should also place first things first: God and his kingdom, which is manifested and communicated to us by bread, forgiveness and protection.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
you know what we need
even before we can ask you.
We are sure of this
on account of the human experience
of Jesus your Son, who was one of us.
And so we pray you:
Don’t take it amiss
when we use too many words
to cover the emptiness of our hearts,
and teach us through your Spirit in us
to ask for the things that matter,
you and your kingdom,
that will last for ever and ever.
Reading 1 SIR 48:1-14
Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord's word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You brought a dead man back to life
from the nether world, by the will of the LORD.
You sent kings down to destruction,
and easily broke their power into pieces.
You brought down nobles, from their beds of sickness.
You heard threats at Sinai,
at Horeb avenging judgments.
You anointed kings who should inflict vengeance,
and a prophet as your successor.
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
And who falls asleep in your friendship.
For we live only in our life,
but after death our name will not be such.
O Elijah, enveloped in the whirlwind!
Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit,
wrought many marvels by his mere word.
During his lifetime he feared no one,
nor was any man able to intimidate his will.
Nothing was beyond his power;
beneath him flesh was brought back into life.
In life he performed wonders,
and after death, marvelous deeds.
Responsorial Psalm 97:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7
R. (12a) Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes round about.
His lightnings illumine the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
All who worship graven things are put to shame,
who glory in the things of nought;
all gods are prostrate before him.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Alleluia ROM 8:15BC
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MT 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This is how you are to pray:
'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.'
"If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
Intercessions
– For members of contemplative orders, that they may be very attentive to the needs of the Church and of the world and pray for them, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may seek God’s will in our prayer rather than ours, we pray:
– For all of us again, that the Lord may give us a spirit of prayer and intimacy with God, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Father in heaven,
we are certain that you will always hear us
on account of your Son in our midst.
With him we pray
that we may recognize you
and praise your name,
that your kingdom may grow among us
and that we may do your will loyally
together with Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Before the Our Father
Let us do what Jesus told us to do
and pray to our Father in heaven
in Jesus’ own words:
Our Father…
Prayer after Communion
Father,
your Son Jesus, alive among us now,
insists that we forgive one another.
Help us to forgive the way you pardon,
completely and without regrets,
because you have forgiven us much
and paid yourself the penalty for our sins
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Prayer for us is not a flight from life or from commitment to people but a plea to God to give us the courage to face reality and to care for people. May God give you this insight and strength and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary:
We pray because we have needs. We pray because we have desires. But there is always a hierarchy of needs and a proper ordering of human desires. Jesus assures us that God already knows what we need and provides for them. Hence our prayer does not need to be a continuous litany of needs aimed at reminding God of our desires, rather we pray so that we can remind ourselves of the right order of our needs and desires. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us what to pray for and how to pray. Tertullian of Carthage called it “the foundation of further desires” of human beings. Thomas Aquinas would agree: “The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers. . . . In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.” Let us take a look at the ordering of desires in the Lord’s Prayer and see if it matches our priorities.
