Gospel Reflections for July 24 2016
Teach us to pray!
What a perfect request!
Clearly, the disciples could quickly see that Jesus was someone who had a special connection with God. He had been performing amazing miracles regularly, teaching with uncommon authority, wisdom, and clarity, and was attracting enormous crowds of people. The disciples were happy to be in His company and wanted in on whatever was His source of power. They asked this simple and profound request.
How Jesus responded must have shocked them.
Up to this time, the very name of God was considered so holy that it was never even mentioned. In their scriptures, the name of God was represented by several dots, for even the letters of his name were forbidden to write.
Jesus begins His prayer with the words that we are so familiar with today, but were certainly not them. He begins His prayer with the words “Our Father” which is our familiar English translation. In Hebrew, the normal word for “Father” is “Abouna.” However, the Hebrew word that Jesus used is “Abba,” which means something different. The word “Abba” is actually more of an affectionate family nickname, somewhat similar to our word “Papa” or even “Daddy.”
Jesus is teaching something powerful here. When we pray, we are to think of the God of the universe in an affectionate and intimate way, and not as some distant god far removed from us.
Even the first word is meaningful. When we say “Our Father,” we understand God as the God of every person on the planet. Since God is “Our Father” that means that every person on the planet is our brother and sister. We are all one human family.
There is a Church in the Holy Land that is built in the area where archaeologists believe Jesus first taught His disciples this prayer. Along the walls of the Church are over 150 plaques with the words of the Our Father prayer written in all the different languages of the world. This captures the idea that people all over the world can say this prayer that acknowledges that God is father to us all. It is amazing to see.
These last few months can seem to be a time when the world is divided along racial, religious, and political lines. Those divisions have brought much suffering and anguish that we see so often in the news. Clearly, this is not what Our Lord intended!
We may not be able to change the world from our home, but we can certainly change ourselves, and that is a very good place to start. The perfect way to begin is to say with renewed insight this prayer taught to us by Our Lord Himself, and it simply and powerfully begins “Our Father…”
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Who can forget that wonderful trip with you in 2008. It brings that church and plaques back as if it was yesterday.
God Bless
Yes, it is also great that it the very first place we visit.
The Our Father is my favorite prayer. It is the perfect prayer for me. It says everything I want to say to God. It became my favorite almost 20 years ago when we got the news that our infant daughter was born with Cystic Fibrosis. I remember after the call I stopped to pray and the words ..”thy will be done” never had made an impact on me until that moment. It was then I understood it is not our will but His. In my prayer I am asking for the courage, strength and faith to accept His will. Admittedly, a little late in life but I finally “got it”.
Thanks for this one Fr. Dave. I like the accompanying photo too-very touching.
My sympathies to you at the passing of your father. No matter the age, it always painful to say goodbye to a parent.
God Bless!
What a profound memory and connection of the Our Father to your experience of your child’s illness. I can see how it made a lasting impression. Thank you for sharing that.
I love your insights. One thing is that I need to constantly remember is not to ever give up. Even if He says no. Trust in the Lord does no matter what.
I had an interesting talk with a fundamentalist friend. He said we were in the end times and just pray for salvations. I personally think there needs to also action. We have sat back quietly while all this garbage has been going on. Now we have someone in office running saying babies have no rights till taken home by the mother. We do need to pry but do we sit back and be silent becaquse we are in the end times. This is ridiculous to me.
We do pray for these thing, abortion, homosexuality being taught to kindergarteners, the right choice for president, for the conversion of Muslims. But do we sit back quietly and watch things happen without saying a word ?
OK, I feel better now. Thanks.
You are welcome to share your thoughts anytime!
The “Our Father” prayer makes my day. If I don’t say it, I don’t feel okay. Moreso that we ask that His will is always with us as it is in Heavven. I love the way it was sang by choir today in our church St Martin’s Catholic Church Lynne Abuja Nigeria.
From Southern California to Nigeria, the Our Father is the world’s prayer, and it is the prayer composed by Our Lord, Himself!
I think of when I was very young, my mother teaching me the Lord’s Prayer. What a noble thing it is for mothers to give their children the gift of Christ.
Yes, your mother did just the right thing to teach you this prayer!
Thank you, Father Dave, for your insightful reflections in today’s gospel. I’ve often wondered what it must have been like to have known Jesus when he lived on earth … to imagine the powerful effect of his presence and the depth of his love. The beauty and mystery is that Jesus, in all his glory, is still with us in our hearts, souls, and prayers. I truly appreciated what you said about “Abba” and the perfection in the words of the “Our Father.”
You are welcome!
Thank you for this insight today, Fr. Dave.
You are welcome. I am glad you liked it.