Today’s first reading, from Genesis, and Gospel reading are concerned with prayer.  In the reading from Genesis, God is talking with Abraham about His plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their grave sins. Abraham, whose son Lot and his family live there, talks to God about sparing the city for the sake of the few people who were not living in sin. Abraham seems to think he’s pushing his luck with God by continuing to ask, but God       continues to give Abraham the answer that he wants.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus’ disciples ask Him to teach them how to pray.  In response, Jesus gives them the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer we know as the “Our Father”.  As we all know, we pray that God’s name may be honored (which means we need to be the ones honoring it), we pray that His kingdom will come and His will be done on earth, we pray that our sins will be forgiven, that our daily needs will be met, and that God will spare us from the final temptation. Jesus then goes on to give two examples that speak to persistence in prayer and speaks the familiar words “ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  He reassures His followers that His Father knows how to give good gifts.

The message contained in these readings is that we should pray for what we and others need, for God indeed hears our prayers.  In Bishop Robert Barron’s book “An Introduction to Prayer”, he writes that there are four things we should do when we pray:  have faith and confidence in Jesus’ words above, have forgiveness on our hearts for those who have wronged us, pray repeatedly for ours and others’ needs, and pray in Jesus’ name.  I encourage all of us to pray in this way, trusting that our Father will answer our prayers…keeping in mind that the answers will come in His time and as He knows is best.

Reflection by parishioner John Ceglarek