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July 25th
Prayer
Today’s Gospel reading is one of the most encouraging in all of Scripture. First of all, we hear the disciples admitting that they, like us, wanted to pray, but weren’t sure how. This can be comforting for us when we don’t quite know how to listen and talk to God. In answer, Jesus teaches a simple and all-encompassing prayer, the one we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” Secondly, Jesus speaks very plainly. Keep this in mind the next time you are praying for an intention and are wondering whether and when God will answer your prayer. In this passage, and in others such as John 16:23-24, Jesus is very clear. He says, “Ask and you shall receive.” In John, he says “whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you.” In short, Jesus assures us that ALL, not some, prayer is heard, and that IF IT IS IN THE FATHER’S WILL the prayer will be answered. God is all Good and Light and wants for us the greatest good and light. He will not, therefore, grant a prayer request that would be better answered in another way or that, ultimately, would be harmful to us. We cannot always see the outcome of things from our limited vantage point. Jesus also said “whatever you have asked, BELIEVE that you have already received it and it is yours.” So trust, abandonment and surrender to what God is doing in a situation mysteriously helps in the answering of our prayers; trust & confidence that assures you that your prayer has been answered before you even see any evidence for that. Repeat frequently to yourself as a prayerful meditation: “Jesus, I trust You.”
SAINT OF THE WEEK
St. Martha (July 29) is the disciple and friend of Jesus who was gently chastised by Him in last Sunday’s reading for being “anxious and worried about many things.” Jesus reminds her, while he dines at her home, that sometimes it is alright just to sit and be quiet with Him, to put aside “productive” work for the more spiritually productive activity of being fed by His words. Martha appears in the Gospels also as Jesus prepares to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. Her brother Lazarus dies, and when Jesus comes (too late, she thinks) she runs to meet Him, emotionally asks why He didn’t come sooner to heal her brother and then makes a beautiful and bold confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus reminds her and her sister Mary that a person who believes in Him, though He should die, will rise again. And He then raises up Lazarus from the dead, but not before poignantly standing at his tomb and weeping in sorrow for his friend. In these stories we catch a glimpse of what friendship meant to Jesus and those who were close to Him.
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