18th JUNE. THURSDAY IN WEEK 11

READINGS

1.2Corinthians 11:1-11(Paul asks for their patience; he will not be a financial burden to them)

2. Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15(Our prayer must not be too wordy and must include a spirit of forgiveness)

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS

The first reading from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians invites us to understand the mind of Apostle Paul to the people of Corinth. Paul is urging the people in Corinth to be aware of the people who would preach the Christ apart from Christ he preached. He teaches the lesson to the Corinthians about being aware of false preachers who would make them to have a different vision of Christ. Furthermore, Paul is giving an example on how minister can work for himself in securing his daily living. For example, (1Cor 9), we are told that Paul and Barnabas prepared to work manually for their living so that the gospel was untarnished by personal gain and could be accepted as God’s pure word. It’s the same call to the ministers of the word to ensure that the first priority should be service to people of God than personal interests. Today we are experiencing the same challenge, that some of our ministers of the word of God preface their own interests ( Money) and expect to have a lot from Christians instead of giving mission they have been entrusted the first priority. The ministers of the word of God have to rely on the providence of God.

From the gospel reading, we hear Jesus’ giving of what has come to be known as the Lord’s Prayer. In the gospel of Matthew Jesus prefaces the giving of the prayer by calling on his disciples not to use many words, not to babble when praying to God as the Pagans do. Jesus in the gospel is referring to the pagan’s practice of bombarding the god’s with various formulae, with intentions to force the gods to respond and behave in a way that is favourable to humankind. In this context Jesus is teaching his disciples not to behave and relate with their father in heaven in a similar manner.

The Lord’s Prayer invites us to meditate and understand that we should surrender our real self to our heavenly father, including whatever God may want from each one of us. What matters in our relationship with our heavenly father is the kingdom, to do his will not according to what we do want. After doing that we acknowledge God’s providence, that God is one who provides our needs, food for the day, for forgiveness, for strength when our faith is put to temptation. We are invited to think on the Lord’s Prayer and learn how to pray always.

Our trust and confidence ought to proceed from that which God is able to do in us, and not from that which we can say to him. The will of God is fulfilled when the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit, is established in the heart, there is then an ample provision made for the fulfillment of the divine will. The will of God is infinitely good, wise, and holy; to have it fulfilled in and among men is to have infinite goodness, wisdom, and holiness diffused throughout the universe; and earth made the counterpart of heaven

Thus from this passage we can understand that the kingdom of God has got some requirements to be met.

We are invited to meditate the word in Lord’s prayer, “ give us this day our daily bread” can be meditated and understood as “The word is so very peculiar and expressive, and seems to have been made on purpose by the evangelists, that more than mere bodily nourishment seems to be intended by it.  Indeed, many of the primitive fathers understood it as comprehending that daily supply of grace which the soul requires to keep it in health and vigour: He who uses the petition would do well to keep both in view.  Observe 1. God is the author and dispenser of all temporal as well as spiritual good.  2. We have merited no kind of good from his hand, and therefore must receive it as a free gift: Give us, &c.  3. We must depend on him daily for support; we are not permitted to ask any thing for to-morrow: give us to-day.  4. That petition of the ancient Jews is excellent: "Lord, the necessities of thy people Israel are many, and their knowledge small, so that they know not how to disclose their necessities: Let it be thy good pleasure to give to every man, what suffices for food!" Thus they expressed their dependence, and left it to God to determine what was best and most suitable.  We must ask only that which is essential to our support, God having promised neither luxuries nor superfluities.” Thus in this prayer we learn that God our father in heaven is one to provide for our daily spiritual and material needs as said in the prayer.