Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Luke 15: 3-7
July 27, 2025 | Sunday

Today’s Gospel

One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this: Father, may your name be held holy, may your kingdom come; give us, each day, the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins; for we also forgive all who do us wrong; and do not bring us to the test.”

Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived, and I have nothing to offer him.’ Maybe your friend will answer from inside, ‘Don’t bother me now; the door is locked, and my children and I are in bed, so I can’t get up and give you anything.’ But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need.

And so I say to you, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.

If your child asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead? And if your child asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? If your sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Today’s Reflection

Jesus was very prayerful, and the disciples saw how profound and passionate He was in praying. One of them asked Him, “Lord, teach us how to pray,” He gave them a short model prayer that we now familiarly call the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father. It is a prayer that, while short and succinct, summarizes and sums up our relationship with God, who we acclaim as the heavenly Father who reigns over us as we seek the coming of His kingdom on earth and in heaven. We humbly ask for what we need to sustain us daily, the forgiveness of our sins and protection against temptation and evil. Most of us know the Lord’s Prayer by heart, and we routinely and repeatedly recite it by rote. Let us slow down and savor its every word, reflect and ruminate on every phrase or petition, then conceive and concretize how the prayer can animate and enhance our daily lives. Pray for the grace of faith that completely trusts the Father’s magnanimity and mercy in His response to our petitions.

Jesus directs us to “. . . ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” He encourages us to persistently petition and plead to God to provide what we need or lack. His affirmative statement could make us believe that God will grant whatever we pray for if we keep asking, seeking, and knocking. Yet, our experience is that while there are times that our prayers are answered, most of our pleas are seemingly rejected or ignored. Why is that so?

Prayer is inherently an act of humility and submission to God and our acceptance of His will. Believe in His goodness and trust that He answers all our prayers in His own way in His own time. He wants only what is objectively good for us and will grant only that which will be beneficial to us in the light of our reaching the everlasting destiny He wants for us. Whatever the outcome of our petitions, never cease in praying, for it always makes us closer to Him and realizes that what is most important is not the fleeting fulfillment of our worldly wants but that we receive the grace of being invited to join Him in His kingdom.

/Vulnerasti, 2025