Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, 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 by 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 had already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give your 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 your 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?"
The Gospel of the Lord.
Having taught us to pray, Jesus concludes with two parables that instruct us how we may expect God will respond to our prayers.
New translation of the word translated as "persistence": the man aroused himself not because of his neighbor's persistence but rather to save face for it was the duty of the whole village to welcome strangers.
God hears each petition and answers each in the form that does us the greatest good in terms of our salvation.
From the first reading: the ten is the minyan of daily prayer in the Jewish synagogue.
No comments:
Post a Comment