The readings today point to God the Father as full of justice, truth, majesty, compassion, mercy, care, and love for us. St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he preaches the Gospel with humility and knowledge and his boasting is only in Christ Jesus, not for himself. The psalmist gives glory to God for all His works of creation, for the deeds He does, and tells us that God is reliable. Jesus teaches His disciples to pray the Our Father, possibly one of the first rote prayers many of us learned. Jesus wants us to go to God as our Father, since we are His children.
As a spiritual director, I often talk to people about prayer. We are familiar with “prayers we say” but those wordless prayers, or whispers from the heart, can be challenging for us. We think that we must pray the right way, that we somehow pass or fail in our prayers, and if we pray the wrong way God will not hear or answer us. That is our human fear of approaching God, but God wants to hear from us. All the time. About all that we need. If we go to God with humility, we will pray well.
In the Our Father there are two phrases that strike me often; “thy will be done” and “Give us this day our daily bread.” They will be done – in other words, Lord, I am turning over my needs, wants, hopes and life to You, so that Your will, not mine, is done. And I can do this because I trust that You will give me my daily bread. In other words, You will care for me today and give me what I need for today.
I often have trouble with the “today” part of that phrase. I want to know how I will be taken care of for the next few weeks, months, and really, what is the ten-year plan. Can I have that, Lord? Do you feel that way sometimes as well? How can we move past that and focus on what is happening rather than what might happen?
I like to begin with gratitude for what is going on in my life now and where I see God’s hand on me. Then I slow down. I mean that – I slow myself down and hold onto what I know. God cares for me, and He will provide what I need for today so that His will is done. I try, as best as humanly possible, to cooperate with God.
As you go through your day, ask yourself how you can better cooperate with God.
Daily Reading
Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading I Genesis 32:23-33 In the course of the night, Jacob arose, took his two wives, with the two maidservants and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the…
Saint of the Day
Sts. Aquila and Priscilla
Sts. Aquila and Priscilla
Feast date: Jul 08
Saints Aquila and Priscilla were a Jewish couple from Rome who had been exiled to Corinth, and were friends of St. Paul in the first century. They hosted St. Paul on his visit to that city and were probably converted by him. They are mentioned a few times in the New Testament in glowing terms by their friend Paul, who calls them “my helpers in Christ, who have for my life laid down their own necks” (Romans 16:3-4).They were tentmakers, thus sharing the same profession as Paul, and because of this it is thought that Paul may have worked with them. Acts 18:18-19 tells us that they accompanied Paul to Ephesus and stayed there with him for three years.In the era of house churches – when Mass was always celebrated in the house of one of the Christian community – their house was an important one.According to tradition they were martyred in Rome on their return, probably around the same time as St. Paul.