Jesus says in today’s gospel : “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them.Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6, 8) 

Gerhard Lohfink in his recent book “The Our Father” notes that ancient Near Eastern prayers  began with a long address to the god approached. An Akkadian prayer, for example, begins: “God of heaven and earth, firstborn of Anu, Dispenser of kingship, Chief Executive of the Assembly of the gods, Father of gods and men, Granter of agriculture, Lord of the air”.

“One senses that the forms of address had to be precise; otherwise the god would not listen. It’s not a simple matter to speak to him without making a mistake. Correct language and competence in praying are required. Above all, one must know the deity’s proper name.

Nothing of the kind in the Our Father! ‘Abba’ that’s the only address. It’s familial.”

The creed and other Christian prayers keep that address as first. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” The Creator is our Father. The creed tells us what we as God’s children have received from our Father and what we are promised. 

“We would not dare claim such a name in prayer, unless God himself had given us permission to pray this. And so, we should remember that when we call God our Father, we must live as children of God, so that whatever pleasure we take in having God for our Father, he may take the same pleasure in us.” (St. Cyprian, Commentary on the Our Father}

You wont find any prayer in scripture that isn’t found in some way in the Lord’s Prayer, St. Augustine writes to Proba, a Roman woman looking for advice about how to pray.

Jesus himself gave this prayer to us. The words of the prayer are teachers of prayer, a school of prayer. No prayer is more important than the Our Father for teaching and leading us into union with God.

“Teach us to pray,” the disciples of Jesus ask him and gave them this prayer as their norm.

It’s a norm, Augustine tells Proba, ” So when we pray we are free to use different words to any extent, but we must ask the same things: in this we have no choice.”

The saint is recommending we pray the Our Father meditatively, a prayer that easily becomes one we say by rote. Think of the words, what they mean, what they tell us. Sometimes it’s good to leave long prayers or many prayers, and simply rest in one, like the Our Father.

For this week’s homily, please watch the video below.

JUNE 6 Mon Mary, Mother of the Church (Tenth Week in Ordinary Time) Memorial

Gn 3:9-15, 20 or Acts 1:12-14/Jn 19:25-34

7 Tue Weekday 1 Kgs 17:7-16/Mt 5:13-16 

8 Wed Weekday 1 Kgs 18:20-39/Mt 5:17-19 

9 Thu Weekday [Saint Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor of the Church]

1 Kgs 18:41-46/Mt 5:20-26

10 Fri Weekday 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-16/Mt 5:27-32 

11 Sat Saint Barnabas, Apostle Memorial

Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3 /Mt 5:33-37 

12 SUN THE MOST HOLY TRINITY Solemnity

Prv 8:22-31/Rom 5:1-5/Jn 16:12-15 

For the next 6 months, following the Feast of Pentecost, we’re living in what our liturgical calendar calls “Ordinary Time.” It’s the time of the Holy Spirit. We’re not orphans, the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and lead us on our way. 

In the Easter season Peter, Paul and the others venture from Jerusalem to Asia Minor and to Rome, empowered by strong winds and tongues of fire. “Their message goes out to all the earth.” Now it’s our turn. The Spirit takes us to the ends of the earth, in the few steps we take every day.

Ordinary time begins with a feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. (Monday) Faithful hearer of the Spirit, she knows the meaning of daily patience. To use a term from Pope Francis, she’s Mary “next door,” who’s with us day by day. 

O God, Father of mercies,
your Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother,
to be our Mother also.
Grant, we pray, that with her loving help
your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and by the holiness of her children,
draw to her embrace all the families of the earth..
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

 “Jesus said to His disciples:’ Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name He will give you.’ ”

     How many of us dare to go directly to the Father with our prayers and pleas? We have this ingrained idea that the Father, Our Father, is beyond our reach. I am one of these individuals. I always reach out to Jesus, our Savior! I know He loves me. I also reach out to the Holy Spirit because Jesus sent Him to us and I believe that the Spirit is on my side and is there to lead me where the will of God is taking me, Eternity with Him! Why is it that the Father eludes my attention?

     Jesus in John’s Gospel 16:25-27 tells us the following: “ …..I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.”

     Yes, I have come to truly believe that God the Father loves me; why else would He have sent His Son to free us from ourselves? Why would He have sent His Holy Spirit to accompany and guide us throughout our lives?

     In my own little way I have come to understand that when I pray to Jesus, or reach out to the Holy Spirit, I am also praying to and pleading to God the Father. I truly believe, at this moment in my life that it is the One God listening! Our Triune God accompanies us always. Our Triune God suffers and cries over our hurts, over our sicknesses, over our loneliness, over our confusion. Our Triune God wants to bring relief to our pain and our suffering.

     How do we hear and see His mercy? How do we actually understand His help and love? I believe He is leading us to where we need to go. I believe He is whispering words of love. I believe that He is filling us with His Holy Spirit! I believe He is using others to help us!!!!

     What must we do? We must have faith in Him. We must follow where He leads without fear or reservations. We must listen and open ourselves to His presence! We must love!!! We must love as strongly as Jesus did when He gave His life for His friends. And who are His friends? Look around. Look at your neighbor. Look at the stranger passing by on your street. Look at the homeless person sleeping in the subway. Look at the poor trying to feed their family and in trying to do so they find no hope. Look finally at yourself. We are all God’s children. We are all His friends!

     Because I have faith in my Triune God, I dare to pray for the end of war. I dare to ask for the end of senseless killings. I plead that I may see my neighbor not as an enemy, but as a child of God thus seeing him/her as my sister or brother. Let us all pray to our Triune God for a new beginning. A new world full of God’s peace, love and compassion between all of us, God’s children .

Berta Hernandez

For this week’s homily, please watch the video below.

You may wish to print out these prayers we use for visits to our Mary Garden for your own prayers at your garden, small or large. They take us to the origins of the Mary Garden, in the Book of Genesis. The psalm and canticle attune our eyes and hearts to God’s creation, which we’re called to cherish and care for.

The hymn is a version of Mary, the Dawn, by Father Justin Mulchahy. Passionist, who taught sacred music for many years. Music available online.

For more on the Mary Garden: http://www.ourmarygarden.com

MAY 16 Mon Easter Weekday, St. Gemma, Acts 14:5-18/Jn 14:21-26 

17 Tue Easter Weekday Acts 14:19-28/Jn 14:27-31a 

18 Wed Easter Weekday [St John I, Pope and Martyr] Acts 15:1-6/Jn 15:1-8 

19 Thu Easter Weekday Acts 15:7-21/Jn 15:9-11 

20 Fri Easter Weekday [St Bernardine of Siena, Priest] Acts 15:22-31/Jn 15:12-17 

21 Sat Easter Weekday [St Christopher Magallanes, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs]

Acts 16:1-10/Jn 15:18-21 

22 SUN SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29/Rv 21:10-14, 22-23/Jn 14:23-29

The gospel readings for the remainder of the Easter season are from the Farewell Discourse of Jesus from John’s gospel. He is going to the Father, Jesus says. What does that mean his disciples wonder?

“I will not leave you orphans,” Jesus says, yet he will not be with them as he was before, but he will be with them as God is always with them. The Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, will teach them all things. Jesus will be present to them in signs.

“I will not leave you orphans,” Jesus says to them– and to us. 

The Acts of the Apostles continue to describe  the church’s journey in time. This week’s readings describe the successful missionary efforts of Paul and Barnabas among the gentiles in the Asia Minor cities of Lystra, Derbe, and Pisidia. Their success raises question among some in Jerusalem. Are the gentiles taking over? To meet what some consider a threat and others an opportunity,  a council was called in Jerusalem, which has  enormous consequences for the church. (Wednesday-Friday)

Councils are important in the church. Can we say the Second Vatican Council has enormous consequences too?

Conflict causes the church to grow, Pope Francis commented some time ago: “But some in Jerusalem, when they heard this, became ‘nervous and sent Barnabas on an “apostolic visitation”: perhaps, with a little sense of humor we could say that this was the theological beginning of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: this apostolic visit by Barnabas. He saw, and he saw that things were going well.”

Recent changes in the Roman Curia approved by Pope Francis indicate where Pope Francis himself might stand in conflicts like this. The curial body on evangelization, headed by the pope himself, appears before the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The pope is looking for a synodal Church, “ a Church, that is, of mutual listening, in which everyone has something to learn: the faithful people, the college of bishops, the Bishop of Rome: each listening to the other, and all listening to the Holy Spirit…to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.”

Morning and Evening Prayers Week 1 here.