Gospel of Matthew Series: Chapter 6: Prayer and its benefits

Gospel of Matthew Series:

The Bible: Gospel of Matthew series icon.

 

 

CHAPTER 6: PRAYER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND ITS BENEFITS TO US. 

 

The following themes in chapter 6 are identified as follows:

Verse 1: Prayer and Piety: Jesus is reminding us to be sincere in our heart when we pray and not to be false before Him.

Verse 2-4: The Need for Almsgiving.

Verses 5-8: Prayer and the Conditions needed to pray.

Verses 9-15: ‘The Our Father’ Jesus himself teaches his disciples (and us) how to pray and what type of prayer pleases His Heavenly Father.

Verses 16-18: Fasting:

Verses 19-21: Pleasing God first as the ‘Treasure of our lives’ not Money.

Verses 22-23: Role of the Body and the Relationship with the Soul.

Verse 24: Serve God alone and not 2 Masters.

Verse 25-34: Trust in God for material needs and not to be anxious about Tomorrow.

Any one of these themes offer food for thought for us . Perhaps we may wish to meditate on these themes during the week and design our own action plan on how we may put it into practice in our lives. You may prefer to concentrate on some of the themes.  Whatever your plan, may you be blessed in your reflection.

 

Opening Prayer Series: Ninth Sunday of Year A

Opening Prayer Series:

The Mass: Opening Prayer Series Icon.

 

OPENING PRAYER

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

Let us pray

(for God's care and protection)

Father, Your love never fails.

Hear our call.

Keep us from danger

and provide for all of our needs.

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

 

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

• In what specific areas of my life do I need God's care and protection?
• How can I acknowledge Your unfailing love in my life this week?
• What dangers could ensnare me as I consider my Lenten programme of prayer, fasting and alms giving?
• What specific physical, emotional and spiritual needs do I need God's providence?

GOSPEL REFLECTION

The first part of the Gospel also is a timely reminder for those in ministry in the Church. It is essential to pray, but we also need to act on what we have heard from our prayer time.   It is great to be involved in a ministry in the parish, but Jesus wants it to be for His greater glory not ours 

 

In today's Gospel, Jesus encourages us to do the will of my Father in Heaven?  We may ask ourselves, like generations before and generations to come 'what is doing God's will'?  It is a difficult question, one which we all need to find our own individual answer.  However, this Gospel seems to indicate that it is about making choices. We make a choice even if we decide not to make a choice.  It is still a choice to a degree.  The key to making the best choices we can is to listen to God's word and then act upon them.  Jesus likens this to 'being a sensible man who built  his house on rock'.  

 

If our spiritual growth so far this year has been limited, let us take this opportunity to start again.  

Lent begins this week with Ash Wednesday, and although it is not a holy day of obligation, it is an invitation to 'Repent and believe the Good News'. 

 

Let us make the choice to build our house on the Rock of Christ 

by listening to Him and acting upon it.

 

Reflection and Prayer Series: the mood of God

REFLECTION AND PRAYER SERIES:

Christ the Redeemer. 
Reflection and Prayer Series.

 

My reflection and prayer series is about sharing reflections and Prayers which have impacted upon me and have provided food for thought. I hope that they will also nurture your soul and spirit.

 

My post is called:

THE MOOD OF GOD.

Do you smile Lord, when You shape each one of us,
when You blow Your breath into us and let us live?
Or do you Laugh aloud in celebration 
to know You have added one more beloved child to Your family?

 

Commandment to Love Series: Accepting the present

COMMANDMENT TO LOVE SERIES:

Accepting the present

My commandment to love series over the next 10-12 weeks focuses on how I can love myself in a practical manner this week and keep the commandment to love. In this series I will focus on one idea that we can use in whatever it suits to accomplish a more rounded version of ' as yourself'.  I hope you will journey with me in this series.

 

So my eighth intention for feeling good about myself this week is as follows:

 

 This week I will willingly accept whatever is present.

 

 

How will make my intention tangible?  There are endless ways just as we are all unique.

However, as a starting point, I will first 

·         spend some prayerful reflection time with God to thank God for my past, my present and my future, all of which depend on Him.

·         Re-read my 'positive list about me' each day in my prayer time and add at least one extra positive each day.

·         Affirm each day that I am able to accept whatever is present because it is the loving thing to do for myself.

·         write down any thoughts that I have both positive and negative about accepting the present. What are the challenges for me to achieve this goal? 

·         Seek God's forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation for the times I have not accepted the gift of the present and worried about both past and future. How does the issue of trust impact on me accepting the present?

·         Thank God for the times I have been able to accept the present since it is only possible because God has made it so.

 

Why do I want to do this?  I want to make progress with this eighth intention because: I want to keep the commandment to love more fully. Practicing this commandment means that I love myself as God loves me. Realizing that I need to accept whatever is present is vital as it helps me stay focused on the here and now and stops me from worrying needlessly about the past or future. Jesus has told me in scripture:

 "Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?
 
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?

 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." (Mt 6:25-34)

 

Let us keep the commandment to love 'as yourself’ by accepting whatever is present.

 

 

Compendium Series: God is love.

COMPENDIUM SERIES:

Jesus the Teacher: Compendium Series Icon.

 

42. In what way does God reveal that He is love? (CCC 218-223)

Compendium states:

God revealed himself to Israel as the “One who has a stronger love than that of parents for their children or of husbands and wives for the spouses.  God in himself “is love” (1Jn 4:8:16), who gives Himself completely and gratuitously, who “so loved the world that he gave His only Son so that the world might be saved through him: ( John 3:16) By sending His Son and the Holy Spirit, God reveals that He himself is an eternal exchange of love.

 

What does this mean for me?

1.            God loves me unconditionally.

2.            I can repent of the times where I have not loved God with my whole
           heart and give Him an exchange of love that God deserves.

 Questions to consider:

1. How will a child who has had a parent/s who have been inadequate learn to respond to God who is love Himself?

2. What image do I have of God?

3. How can I give God my eternal exchange of love in my life? What needs to change?

 

About the Mass series: Eucharistic Prayer no 1.

About the Mass series:

The Mass: About the Mass series Icon.

 

Eucharistic Prayer no 1.

 

Similar to other parts of the Mass mentioned previously, the Eucharistic prayers too have their roots in the Jewish traditions particularly the benediction called ‘Yotser’.  It began with the blessing of God the creator, continued with a Sanctus and ended with prayers of intercession.  The Christian prayer closest to the Eucharistic Prayer was called the ‘Didache’.

 

Since Vatican 11, there are four main Eucharistic prayers as well as special ones for different occasions, such as, children liturgies and for Reconciliation.   Nevertheless, the Eucharistic Prayer is prayed in the plural ‘we come to you…’ or ‘we bring you…’ because it is the prayer of the whole assembly, even though it is the priest who prays the words aloud.  

 

All of them have a similar structure

1. Call upon the Spirit, 2. Words of Institution- Consecration, 3.  Acclamation of Faith, 4.  Memorial Prayer and Offering, 5. Second Invocation of the Spirit and 6. Doxology.

 

Eucharistic Prayer 1 was based on the old Roman Canon, which was written by Saint Ambrose around 4^th Century and was used from 7^th century until 1969. Until then, it was the only Eucharistic Prayer used.

After Vatican 11, other Eucharistic Prayers were used, of which Eucharistic Prayer 11 is an adaptation of the oldest Eucharistic Prayer by Hippolytus of Rome.  It is the shortest of the Eucharistic Prayers.  Eucharistic Prayer 111 is a recasting of a draft of a Eucharistic Prayer, which was to be an alternative prayer of the Canon.   Eucharistic Prayer IV is said to draw its inspiration from Saint Basil around the 4^th Century. 

More recently, other Eucharistic prayers apart from those mentioned above are said, but they all have the similar structure previously mentioned.

 

Do you have a favourite Eucharistic Prayer that you like to pray at Mass?  All of them have a richness to offer.  Why not read each one of them as part of your own personal prayer life?

 

WYD Series:The journey of the Cross

WYD SERIES:

World Youth Day Cross: 

The journey of the Cross

In life we are on a journey, we are all pilgrims on a journey- our destination- well hopefully Heaven for us all.

When we attend a WYD, we have the wonderful opportunity to venerate the cross- the cross designated by the late Pope John Paul 11 for this purpose which has travelled the world since the inception of WYD.  We also have the opportunity to embrace the cross in our lives. The cross in our lives has all different forms, but in another sense, it is always the shape of the cross because it meets and challenges us in our heart- the core of our being.

 

It is important to reflect on what the Cross means to you especially if you are going to WYD. As a pilgrim of WYD, as part of your spiritual preparation, you will have the opportunity to follow the journey of the Cross, and also during the week to venerate the cross. If you a pilgrim of the host country, you have the wonderful opportunity to follow the Cross journey in your own country.

 

 

I remember the wonderful Mass we had at the Cathedral during Days in the Diocese, held in the April of 2008 when the Cross was travelling Melbourne.  The entry of the Cross into the Cathedral, carried by many different groups brought home the power of the cross to draw us together.  The glorious Mass was followed by veneration of the Cross- a packed Cathedral, and yet you would have heard a pin drop- the silence and reverence was truly awesome.

I still treasure that quiet time that I had during the early hours of the morning, when the cross was in a neighbouring parish. I remember too the spiritual excitement when it is was time for it to move to its next venue and the breakfast that was provided by the host parish.

 

What is important to realise though, the journey of the cross in the host nation brings it also together since the cross journeys for 12 months.  What I experienced at that time in 2008 was the fact that when the Cross was finally brought into the stadium in Sydney, there was a sense of completion of the journey, but a new journey was about to begin. I think that is true of our crosses in life also- the cross can be a hindrance, be uncomfortable, be a nuisance to us, but if we stay the course of the journey, the cross also helps to grow stronger and embrace Christ in a deeper way. 

 

So, for those pilgrims preparing for WYD, reflect on the meaning of the cross for you- think of your crosses in your life and what ones may be looming ahead. Then as you venerate the cross, take these with you, and the crosses of others that you know. 

For those pilgrims reading this post, I hope you will venerate the cross for me and take my crosses with you to lay there beside yours in Christ. It is same cross that many past WYD pilgrims have venerated. It is the one I venerated for you- all future WYD pilgrims back in 2008.