Prayer – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C

Masa Nakata, MA, MAPS

PATER NOSTER OUR FATHERPater noster qui es in coelis,sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum,fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo et in terra.Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.et ne nos inducas in tentationemsed libera nos a malo.Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name;thy kingdom come,thy will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day, our daily bread,and forgive us our trespassesas we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Gospel Reading: Luke 11:1-133 Parts:

I. The Lord’s Prayer –vv 1-4

II. Further Teaching on Prayer: Persistence in Prayer – vv 5-8

III. The Answer to Prayer – vv 9-13

• Jesus was paying in a certain place, and when he fished praying, one of the disciples asked him to teach them how to play just as John the Baptist taught his disciples.

• Jesus always prayed. For Jesus, prayer was how he started his day. Through prayer, Jesus listened to the will of the Father and asked for whatever necessary to accomplish His will through his action – before actually engaging in actions of ministry.

• The disciple who asked Jesus to teach them how to pray must be curious and wanted to imitate Jesus.

The Lord’s Prayer in Luke is composed of:

• Acknowledgement of God the Father • Our hope and confidence in God’s Kingdom –

Salvation• Our need for daily Sustenance (bread of life,

word of life, spirit of life)• Our need for forgiveness – love, mercy• Our need to be listed in the Book of Life,

exemption from condemnation

The Lord’s Prayer (Acknowledgement of God the Father )

• Acknowledging God the Father, holy is His name.

• This reflects the first four of the Decalogue – Exodus 20:2-7, also reflecting why we are to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with al our strength (Deuteronomy 6:3)

• God is holy (God will show He is holy - Leviticus 10:3, We are to be holy because God is holy -11:44-45)

The Lord’s Prayer (Hope and confidence in God’s Kingdom – Salvation)

• Expressing our confidence in the coming of His Kingdom

The Lord’s Prayer (Daily Sustenance)

• Humbly asking the Father, the Creator and Provider, for our daily sustenance (“artos” – bread, food, meal). We do not ask bread for a week or a month. This is our humility. This is also our trust in God’s providence. Thus, we are not worried about tomorrow or future – no need to wonder if there would be bread tomorrow. Those who ask God to give bread for a week do not trust in God’s providence, as they worried if there would be no bread tomorrow.

• Bread = Jesus = Eucharist (Corpus Christi) = Word incarnate • Ezekiel – ate a scroll (Word) – Word: Bread parallel• Holy Spirit: Word parallel – bread: Holy Spirit parallel • We cannot live with bread alone. We also need whatever

comes out of the mouth of God – Word of God.

The Lord’s Prayer (Forgiveness)

• Humbly asking for forgiveness of our sins that we are indebted to God.

• As we are forgiven by God, we also forgive each other.

• We cannot go to heaven with grudges still held in us. Without reconciliation with God and each other, we cannot reach heaven

The Lord’s Prayer (Exemption from the Final Test)

Expressing our desire to be listed in the Book of Life at the end time (eschaton).

The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew (Matthew 6:9-13) – This is closer to Pater Noster (Our Father)

• In Luke’s version, the following are not found:• Our Father in heaven• The Father’s will be done on earth as it is in

heaven

• Instead of “subject to the final test” in Luke’s version, Matthew’s version describes “temptation”, “evil”, from which we are to be delivered.

Importance in the Lord’s Prayer

• It is not about an individual salvation but communal salvation.

• Note: “give us”, “our daily bread”, “forgive us”, “our sins”, “forgive everyone in debt to us”, “do not subject us”

• This prayer that the Lord has taught us shall put us together in communion.

What are the two Sacraments reflected in the Lord’s prayer?

The Sacrament of the Eucharist

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Further Teaching on Prayer: Persistence in Prayer

• “I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence”(Lk 11:8)

• Reflecting the First reading – Abraham’s perseverance in his prayer(Genesis 18:20-32)

• Hannah’s persistent prayer leads to her pregnancy with Samuel (1 Sam 1:1-23)

• Phoenician woman’s persistence in asking Jesus to heal her daughter (Matt 25:22-28, Mk 7:24-30)

• Jesus’ parable of persistent widow and unjust judge (Lk 18:1-8)

Highlight of the Phoenician woman’s persistence: Mark 15:26-28

• “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs”, said Jesus.

• “Yes, Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table”, said the Phoenician woman.

• “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.”

The Answer to Prayer

• Ask – we will receive, not necessarily what we want but what God wills

• Seek – we will find not necessarily what we want but what God wills

• Knock – the door will be opened in God’s time, not necessarily in our time

The Answer to Prayer“What father among you would hand his son a

snake when he asks for a fish?Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?If you then, who are wicked, know how to give

good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk 11:11-13)

*It is about trusting God’s providence – what God gives us in response to our prayer.

The Answer to PrayerThe way God answer our prayer is not like a wicked person

who gives snake when his son asked for fish, who gives scorpion when his son asks for an egg. The way God answers our prayers is the way He gives when we asks, the way He helps us find when we seek, and the way He opens the door when we knock. He responds to our prayer in a right and just way.

The way God responds to our prayers comes with the Holy Spirit, which brings a plethora of gifts (1 Cor 12:1-11)

This is not to be confused that God would answer our

prayers in ways we want.

The Answer to Prayer“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made

perfect in weakness”(2 Cor 12:9) .

“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will. All I have and call my own, You have given to me; to you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me” (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Suscipe Prayer, Spiritual Exercises 234).