The people whom Jesus invited to be his disciples were devout Jews. From childhood they knew how to pray. Yet, they observed Jesus in prayer and knew that his was different. Jesus’ prayer was not a perfunctory repetition of words. No, Jesus conversed with his Father in intimacy and trust, with a sense of belonging. “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins.” I have been thinking of Jesus’ words these past two days as I view and listen to the daily news. Today’s gospel reading is a reminder to us that Jesus is asking us not to offer empty repetitious words in our conversation with God. He is reminding us to ask for what we need each day and to forgive others as we ourselves ask forgiveness from God. In other words, Jesus is asking us to break open our myopic view of prayer, to realize that our intimacy with God spreads to our relationship with others.
There is so much rancor within our own nation, as well as around our world. Perhaps, we have neglected to include in our prayer an understanding of what God is asking of us. One big issue on our political scene right now is the right to life. Through his disciples Jesus is teaching us a wider and fuller understanding of what it means to pray, perhaps we need to understand more deeply what the right to life means—on all levels.
In addition to praying over and voting against snuffing out life in its early stages, we need to do the same in regulating the use of weapons. Not one day passes that we don’t hear about mass shootings of innocent people, war torn countries due to political selfishness, rampant assaulting of our neighbors. One wonders why people don’t become equally upset with outright murders and condemn the absence of regulating assault weapons? My words sound like a political statement….Yes, however, Jesus became involved in politics in his own day—namely paying taxes to Caesar. Our relationship with God is intertwined with our relationship with each other: the sum of the two great commandments.
Whether we pray in private or worship in concert, we are asking God to help us love in a Divine way: “Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us.”
Let’s take time today to evaluate our prayer relationship with God. Does it include our concern for ALL?
“Jesus cannot think about God without thinking about his plan to transform the world. He does not contemplate God enclosed in his own world, isolated from the people’s problems; he is committed to humanizing life.”