Daily Catholic Lectio. Thu, 20 June 2024. The ‘we’ of prayer

Daily Catholic Lectio

Thu, 20 June 2024

Eleventh week in Ordinary Time – Thursday

Sirach 48:1-15. Matthew 6:7-15

The ‘we’ of prayer

Today I heard two things from two people on God:

(a) Fr. Rajkumar SDB, Chennai, shared, “Any project that does not include God is bound to fail. The best example to prove this is the Tower of Babel. The tower-builders had a plan and a purpose for putting up the tower. They had human resources and the skills to burn bricks; they had among themselves leaders, architects, and engineers. But they lacked one. They lacked God. They failed to include God in the project, and they failed.”

(b) Bro. Paul Pratheesh, Chennai, said, “My day begins with God and ends with God. At dawn, I read the word of God and prayed for a while. When I read the Bible, God speaks to me, and in prayer, I speak to God. Any day that does not place God at the centre is a vain day.”

Prayer helps us give access to God to enter our lives; it helps us live a God-centred life. Jesus instructs his disciples on how to pray (gospel reading). He invites his disciples to employ minimalism or essentialism in prayer.

The other key element in the prayer that Jesus has taught us is the movement from ‘I’ to ‘We’: ‘our’ father, ‘give us,’ and ‘do not lead us into temptation.’

By calling God ‘our’ father, we call each other our brothers and sisters.

The daily bread is not for me, but for us. This calls for equitable sharing and a life of communion.

We shall be kept away from temptations.

When we move from ‘I’ to ‘We’, it becomes a prayer. God himself prays through us.

In the light of the gospel reading, let us analyse our own prayers. Except for our ‘prayers of the faithful,’ our prayers are mostly ‘I’, ‘me,’ and ‘my.’ Prayer becomes a space to submit our selfish and private petitions.

Prayer is the space that we give to God. God enters my life to open myself to others.

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Ben Sirach pays tribute to Elijah and Elisha. God’s spirit guides the prophets. The prophets give faith and hope to the people of Israel. (Jubilee 2025 AD, bite 129).

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy