Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Today’s Gospel reading from Luke follows immediately after Jesus teaches the disciples the Lord’s Prayer. In praying, Jesus tells his disciples, be persistent. The parable that tells about the man who goes to his friend’s house at midnight for three loaves of bread describes approaching God in prayer. Because every moment on earth may be our last, it is always the midnight hour when we approach God, who is always ready to receive the ones who seek him out.

Not everything I ask God to give me will be given to me. In the parable, Jesus makes clear that what we pray for that is in accord with the will of God will be given. The friend will give his persistent friend three loaves of bread, which he will in turn share with his friend who is on a journey. In seeking God, the will of God will be found; in knocking, the door will be opened; in asking, God will give every good thing there is to receive. In the Our Father it is the same perfect unity and abandonment to the will of God. “Thy will be done” and “give us this day our daily bread.” Help me discern, Lord, whether what I ask you in prayer is one with your will.

God, teach me today to know your will. I know you want me to know your will, not because it shackles and confines my will but because to do your will is to live in the truth and freedom of your divine love. When I say I want to do your will, let it not be as if I am fulfilling another’s human wish. Let me see instead that your will is woven into the very fabric of existence. Your will simply is; it is the way things work on earth as in heaven—a mystery. Job said it best: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpuJ5WytCOA

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

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.”

Jesus teaches his disciples to say the Our Father, the Lord’s prayer. As one of the disciples came to Jesus to ask him how to pray, he must have asked out of true humility. The disciple also shows a certain observance to tradition that comes across by his asking to be taught to pray just as John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. Jesus then prays what we know as the Our Father.

Saint Paul says, “We do not know how to pray as we ought.” Lord, help me understand how this applies to me. When I pray the Our Father, let me realize that I am saying the same prayer you said from the heart to be in union with God the Father. Every line of the Our Father is a meditation on the glory of the Father and the mercy he shows us. As a whole, it is complete abandonment to God’s will even for our daily needs. Lord, when I struggle with prayer and distractions crowd my mind, let me remember to ask you as the disciple asks: “Teach me to pray.”

The Gospel acclamation for today is “You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father!” With a spirit of adoption, we 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. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpuJ5WytCOA

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Jesus makes clear in today’s Gospel reading that one thing is necessary: to sit beside the Lord at his feet and listen to him speak. While Martha was busy serving and preparing, Mary sat at the feet of the Lord. I imagine Martha in the kitchen taking account of things she still has to do before everybody can sit down, eat, and rest. Being burdened means completing a seemingly endless list of things, exacting tasks that must be done before taking a breath. Mary chooses the better part, and it will not be taken from her. Another way of saying that: being present before God and listening to him gives what is everlasting and can’t be taken away even amid the demands of a day.

God, you know how I will deceive myself today in the seemingly endless list of things I have to do before I rest. Help me understand that there will always be more to do that drains and leaves me feeling burdened with many cares. Yet, if I return to you in the day through prayer—even a few quiet moments—I will choose something that will not be taken from me. Let me be mindful that you will supply the grace I need in order to sit beside you and listen to you speak.

On this memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, teach me, Lord, to measure my success not by how much I acquire in the world and how much surplus I possess. I know you are rich in mercy, and I am poor to whatever degree I dismiss that. As Saint Paul says, “For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Show me, Lord, how to succeed in listening to you and doing your will by letting go of excess—all that places an obstacle between you and me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.

In the well-known parable from today’s Gospel reading, Jesus responds to a scholar of the law who asks him, “Who is my neighbor?” A priest and Levite separately passed by the man who had been stripped and beaten, but a Samaritan saw him, stopped, and eventually took him to an inn. Jesus finishes the parable and asks the scholar which of the three was the neighbor. “The one who treated him with mercy,” he says. And Jesus replies, “Go and do likewise.”

God, help me understand your mercy. There will be opportunity today to show mercy to someone in need—probably not in a dramatic or memorable way—but nonetheless in a way that through my actions, another may receive your mercy. The question is whether I will be too busy to notice or find justification in some other necessary task. The readings from a few days ago describe Jesus and his disciples trying to pass through a Samaritan village on their way to Jerusalem, but they were not welcome so went another way. Here, Jesus places the Samaritan in the role of giving tender care to a wounded human being. Rather than demonize Samaritans, Jesus shows one of them giving mercy where mercy is sorely needed.

Lord, amid all the necessities and distractions of the day, put in my path the means to show someone your mercy. You know me, Lord; unless you make things very clear to me, I will miss it. Be with me today, and show me how I can please you best.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings