July 25th - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
People have lots of prayers that they would like answered.
Whether it is petitions written into the Book of Intercessions at
church, requests made of a priest or a friend, entreaties offered to
God before bed, or appeals made in the midst of a crisis, we are
always looking for an answer. Sometimes we pray knowing what we
want, like a child sitting on Santa's lap with a list of Christmas toys.
And many times we pray with the expectation that God will see
things our way and give us what we ask for.
In this week's Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer.
Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer is a little different from Matthew's,
but it is essentially the same. In Jesus' methodology, prayer
starts with praising God (hallowed be your name) and then asks
God to do what God wants (your kingdom come). Only then does
prayer move on to posing our requests for God's consideration (give
us each day our daily bread). And finally we ask for God's help
(forgive us our sins). The Lord's Prayer became so much a part of
Christian praying that the Fathers of the Church (early Christian
writers like St. Augustine, St. Gregory, and St. Leo the Great)
recommended that if a person couldn't remember any other prayer
(like a psalm) he or she should just pray the Lord's Prayer instead.
The method of prayer that Jesus lays out for his disciples
includes one final aspect-one that we like to forget. Luke's
version puts it this way, "for we ourselves forgive everyone in
debt to us." More commonly we say, "as we forgive those who
trespass against us." Are we ready to have God act that way
toward us? Do we really want God to treat us the way we treat
others? That is the challenge.
All Saints Catholic Church is an active community
of approximately 1,400 families located in Rossford,
Ohio. Once two separate communities of faith, Sts. Cyril & Methodious and St. Mary Magdalene, the two churches were combined
in 1990.
As Christian stewards, we believe that our time, talent and
treasure are gifts from God to be used for the spiritual,
educational and social needs of our community, diocese and
the world at large.
Members of All Saints Catholic Church
enjoy an active parish life. We welcome your visit to our Web
site and encourage you to share in the fellowship and worship
of our Christian community.
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