Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C - 24th July 2022
Gospel Luke 11: 1–13
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:
“Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.”
He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to them in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on their travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer them”; and the owner answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed;
I cannot get up to give it to you.” I tell you, if the owner does not get up and give it to the friend for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make them get up and give the friend all they want.
‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to them. What father among you would hand his child a stone when they asked for bread? Or hand them a snake instead of a fish? Or hand them a scorpion if they asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach
I come to the place where I will pray, and invite the Holy Spirit to guide me as I become aware of God’s gaze on me – loving me just as I am.
As I read slowly through the Gospel, it may help to imagine myself with the disciples, listening to Jesus as he responds to their question.
Is there a word or phrase which Jesus particularly wants me to notice?
I return to that place in the text and savour it.
I read the text again. In what ways have my prayers been answered? Has my persistence been rewarded? Have I found what I am seeking?
I speak to the Lord about this, aware, perhaps, that my prayers have always been answered, but maybe not as I wanted or expected. I tell the Lord how this feels, and ask him to explain if I struggle to understand.
As my prayer time draws to a close, I return to Jesus’s own words and pray,
Our Father ...
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