Opening Prayer Series: 30th Sunday of Year

OPENING PRAYER SERIES:
 

THE MASS: OPENING PRAYER SERIES ICON.

OPENING PRAYER

The Opening Prayer for the 30th Sunday of the Year reads as follows:

Let us pray

(for the strength to do God's will)

Almighty and ever-living God,

strengthen our faith, hope and love,

May we do with loving hearts what You ask of us 

and come share tho life You promise. 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged:

1.            What is God's will for me?

2.            What is strength and why is it important for doing God's will?

3.            What do I understand about the virtues of faith, hope and love? (My
           virtue series may be a helpful resource)

4.            What hinders me from doing with a loving heart what God asks of me?

5.            What am I prepared to do to change these hindrances this week? How
            will I go about making these changes?

6.            How can I share in the life You promise this coming week?

7.            What is the life that God has promised me?

GOSPEL REFLECTION’

As we hear today's gospel of the publican and the pharisee, to whom do we identify? It seems to me that we are neither all publican nor all pharisee. Rather we are more likely to hold in our personalities both publican and pharisee. The message of the parable is quite clear from the outset when it says ' Jesus spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else'.

I do not wish to give the publican bad press.  From his own words to himself we are told that he was not grasping, adulterous, fast  twice a week, payed tithes on all he got. Some might consider that he had a very strong self-esteem and a good bloke. Unfortunately, he seems to suffer from the sin of pride and from a judgmental attitude towards humanity. In his eyes, he is the greatest. His sin of pride has blinded him to his own weakness and sinfulness.

The pharisee however prayed to God, not to himself, with a beautiful simple prayer 'Be merciful to me a sinner'.  Some might consider him to have low self-esteem since he was humble. Being humble in the presence of God is being realistic- God is the creator and we are the creatures that God lovingly made from nothing. Jesus too humbled himself to become man and die on the cross. We are not greater than our Master.

So during this coming week, let us find the balance between the publican and pharisee in us. It is fine to acknowledge our giftedness comes from God and be grateful for it.  We need to be realistic to know that we are not yet perfect, so we need to be humble enough to do this in God's presence and when we tend to be judgmental or prideful, we need to acknowledge our sinfulness. 

Do you not want to go home at rights with God?