June 19, 2014 Thursday
11th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Sir 48: 1-14
Gospel: Mt 6:7–15
Jesus said to his disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do, for they hold that the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today the kind of bread we need. Forgive us our debts just as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from the evil one. “If you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
How many words we utter at prayer are thoughtless? “You do not know what you are asking”, Jesus told James and John who prayed for reserved seats in heaven. We should be hearing the same when we rattle off uncalculated words at prayer. Shakespeare warns: “Words without thoughts never to heaven go” (Hamlet).
In prayer it is not wise to utter so many words (Matt. 6:7). After all prayer is not a tug-o-war game with the Lord. Prayer is about alignment of one’s will with God’s. This requires not so many words. God, after all, is an expert reader of hearts. It is not the number of words we utter but what is in our hearts as we pray that matters. The “Our Father” provides the pattern.
When we pray “Our Father who art in heaven…” we should commit ourselves to live like children destined for heaven. This raises our awareness about our dignity and decreases the likelihood of living a sinful lifestyle. When we pray “Thy kingdom come…” our hearts should be filled with zeal to build God’s kingdom on earth. This raises our enthusiasm to live according to God’s plan, decreases the likelihood of disobeying God’s precepts and intensifies our desire to spread love to hasten the formation of God’s kingdom.
When we pray “Give us this day our daily bread”, faith in God’s capacity to provide should temper our attachment to material pursuits. This decreases our worldliness and increases our interest in spiritual matters. When we pray “Forgive us our sins…” our hearts should be ready to forgive even those who do not ask for it. When we pray “Do not bring us to the test…” we should resolve never to expose ourselves to occasions of sin.
If words without thoughts never to heaven go, scarce words of a loaded heart should move God’s heart without much ado. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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