Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this: Father, may your name be held holy, may your kingdom come; give us, each day, the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins; for we also forgive all who do us wrong; and do not bring us to the test.”
Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived, and I have nothing to offer him.’ Maybe your friend will answer from inside, ‘Don’t bother me now; the door is locked, and my children and I are in bed, so I can’t get up and give you anything.’ But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need. And so I say to you, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who
knocks the door will be opened.
If your child asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead? And if your child asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Lectio Divina
READ: Abraham negotiates with God the fate of Sodom. Saint Paul writes to the Christian community in Colossae, saying that God gave us life in Christ, forgave our sin, etc. In the gospel passage, Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray and stresses God’s generosity and the importance of persevering in prayer.
REFLECT: Three things may be noted in the prayer that Jesus (thought) taught the disciples: first, it was in a communitarian context that he taught the disciples how to pray. We say, “Our Father” and not “My Father.” This would mean that people in the group/community/Church are in mind. Second, by addressing God as our “Father”, we share in Jesus’ relationship to God as Father. It is through Jesus that we are able to call God “Father”. And third, calling God “Father” brings us to a relationship of sisterhood and brotherhood to the other person who also calls God “Father”. A new and extraordinary relationship is formed with this person when we call God “Father”. The key here is the “call”; it is not a simple or meaningless “call” we use, but a profound address to God as our “Father”. When we approach God as “Father”, as Jesus did, then we can truly see the person next to us as a sister or a brother. That is why our prayer for daily sustenance, for forgiveness, and for deliverance from temptation, becomes also a prayer for the sisters and brothers who call God their “Father”.
PRAY: God, our “Father”, help us grasp the profundity, meaning and implications of calling you our “Father”.
ACT: Strive to see the other person as a sister or as a brother.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019