Opening Prayer Series: Twenty Seventh Sunday of Year A

The Opening Prayer for the Twenty Seventh Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

Let us pray

(that God will forgive our failings and bring us peace)

Father,

Your love for us surpasses all our hopes and desires.

Forgive our failings,

keep us in Your peace 

and lead us in the way of salvation. 

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

1. What does the gift of God's forgiveness mean to me?
2. What are the failings that I wish God to forgive in my life?
3. What difference would God's gift of peace make in my life?
4. How does God's love surpass your hopes and desires?
5. What value do I place on the sacrament of Reconciliation in my life?
6. What commitment am I prepared to make this coming week to ask God's forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation?
7. What is the way of salvation and how do I walk in this way during this coming week?

Today's Gospel may not speak to us immediately especially if we have no connection to wine growing. The closest we may become to it may be the produce as we share a drink with friends and family.
However, let us not wipe this gospel as one that does not concern us since  the words of Jesus at the end of the gospel are most telling 

' I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you 

and given to a people who will produce its fruit'. 

Our lives are busy and we are governed by the world's demands on us  Providing for our families is getting more difficult in this global financial crisis. Finding time to place our focus on God when we are worried about our daily lives is a challenge.


So the questions we need to ask ourselves are 

• What is the fruit of the kingdom?
• How do I produce the fruit of the kingdom in my daily life?
• How would I feel if the kingdom of God was taken away from me?

 
Even though my life is in such a muddle at the moment,  I still want to live for God and eventually get to Heaven.

What about you? What is your priority?