The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, June 22, 2006
Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
St. John Fisher, bishop and martyr
St. Thomas More, martyr
St. Paulinus, bishop

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Sirach 48:1-14
Psalm 97:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7
Matthew 6:7-15

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

What a gentle, loving teacher we have in Christ . . . that He guides us in our prayer life!

In the gospel of today, He teaches us how to enter into that awesome relationship that He shares with His Father (see Matthew 6:7-15). He gently directs us on how to speak with His, and our, Father in heaven in the beautiful prayer that we know as "The Our Father.” It is not just that He is teaching us the words of the prayer, as we learned as a child; no, He is moving us toward a more intimate level within the Trinity.

Through our baptism we became the adopted sons and daughters of God and we can actually turn to God and call Him "Father" or "Abba." The prayer, "The Our Father," turns our minds and hearts toward that relationship that we can rightfully claim.

It is not necessary that we “rattle off” ALL the words of The Our Father at once. We can just say one, or a few, of the words at a time and sincerely meditate on their meaning -- for instance the first word "OUR.” He is Father to my brothers and sisters also, so what does that mean in how I relate to others?

What a gift we have been given by Christ in teaching us this prayer, as an example for our prayer life. The rest is up to us, in how we accept and use this gift!

- Joan of Jesus, OCDS
(jmurphy at utica dot edu)