Practicing prayer is the only way to understand the power of prayer. Jesus prayed before undertaking anything: before he began his ministry, before he taught the crowds, even before his crucifixion. It is his example we should follow if we expect to see good fruits spring from our life.
Father Rey spoke of how important prayer was for him in order to continue living out his vocation as a priest: prayer has been a source of strength in difficult times. Today was his birthday, and this week the twenty-ninth anniversary of his ordination. The prayers of the Mass seemed especially beautiful today, given the subject of the homily. He highlighted a well-known method of articulating the types of prayer: ACTS.
- A: Adoration – praising God for his wonder and greatness.
- C: Contrition – recognizing our sins and asking God for his mercy.
- T: Thanksgiving – giving God thanks for all he has done for us.
- S: Supplication – asking God to grant us those things that will be good for us.
For myself, as with may others I’m sure, these types of prayer come readily to mind. But I’ve also begun to appreciate the timeless beauty of a particularly Catholic prayer: the Liturgy of the Hours. As the US Conference of Catholic Bishops states, “The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God (Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer.” [USCCB – Prayer and Worship].
It is a wonderful way for us in the laity to participate in the Liturgy of the Church, the public worship that She offers us. Combined with prayerful discernment of the tasks of the day, it has become for me a wonderful reprieve from the hectic pace of modern life, resonating with the beauty of the Sunday Mass and taking something of it with me throughout the week. Practicing this daily habit helps me better understand all my prayers, and those of the Church.
And this week, after Mass had ended and we were getting ready for the dismissal, the choir and all of us in the pews broke into a round of “Happy Birthday,” wishing Father another joyful year in his ministry, and sending him out with a smile.
Readings for July 24, 2016
Reading 1 Genesis 18:20-32
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While Abraham’s visitors walked on farther toward Sodom,
the LORD remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer and said:
“Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it
for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing,
to make the innocent die with the guilty
so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike!
Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?”
The LORD replied,
“If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,
I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham spoke up again:
“See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord,
though I am but dust and ashes!
What if there are five less than fifty innocent people?
Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.”
But Abraham persisted, saying “What if only forty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it for the sake of the forty.”
Then Abraham said, “Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.
What if only thirty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there.”
Still Abraham went on,
“Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord,
what if there are no more than twenty?”
The LORD answered, “I will not destroy it, for the sake of the twenty.”
But he still persisted:
“Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.
What if there are at least ten there?”
He replied, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.”
Responsorial Psalm Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk amid distress, you preserve me;
against the anger of my enemies you raise your hand.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Reading 2 Colossians 2:12-14
Brothers and sisters:
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
And even when you were dead
in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,
which was opposed to us,
he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross.
Gospel Luke 11:1-13
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.”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.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”