First Reading: Jon 4:1-11; Psalm: 86. R. v. 15; Gospel: Lk 11:1-4

A PRAYER OF COMMUNION

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer of communion. This prayer reminds us that God is our Father and we are his children. Ordinarily, a father-child relationship requires the child to respect and honour the father and to summon courage and ask forgiveness whenever a wrong is committed. And the father’s duty is to cater for his child and guard the child against any physical harm. These moral obligations of father-child relationship are binding on both parties by virtue of their relationship to one another.

If we paid close attention to the spirit behind the Lord’s Prayer, we would discover that Jesus brings to our consciousness the kind of relationship that should exist between us and God. And it is the father-child kind of relationship; but in an extraordinary way. If it was a moral obligation to honour our parents, then it is a moral and spiritual obligation to worship God. If we could dare to trust on our parents love and protection, then we absolutely have to trust and depend on God’s providence and mercy. 

Jesus wants us to see God essentially and truly as our ideal Father. Not in a conceptual sense but in a real concrete way. We should be absolutely confident that God is with us every day to take care of our material and spiritual needs. If we are conscious of God’s divine presence, we should therefore not fail to render God our honour and praise for his endless love. We should be confident to ask God for our needs. And we should not be afraid to ask God’s mercy when we fall short of our duties as his children. Our relationship with God should not be seen as something very distant. It is at the core of our being.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

God our Father, open our eyes to see that you are always there for us as our ideal father. Amen.