God our Father in Heaven is indeed of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, relenting from evil. And all our lives are precious to Him. For it is He who gave us life! Are we then to judge who lives or who dies? We cry out in contrition to Him for mercy when we have sinned and we are forgiven. Are we to withhold mercy from those who have sinned against us?
The teaching of Jesus on how to pray in Luke’s Gospel is short and sweet and yet there is much depth in this simple prayer. Like all children who love, cherish and honour their fathers we simply cry out Father! And we honour Him not in words but in living our lives in obedience to His Will for us. For He is Holy and the creator of Heaven and on earth, His Kingdom come. We humbly request to be nourished body, mind and soul and for our sins to be forgiven, so that we may walk fully in His light. As we too promise to be merciful to those who have sinned against us. May His grace be upon us to protect all us from evil as we resist all forms of temptation in the world. Amen
First reading
Jonah 4:1-11 ·
Jonah is angry at God’s mercy
Jonah was very indignant; he fell into a rage. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Ah, Lord, is not this just as I said would happen when I was still at home? That was why I went and fled to Tarshish: I knew that you were a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, relenting from evil. So now, Lord, please take away my life, for I might as well be dead as go on living.’ The Lord replied, ‘Are you right to be angry?’
Jonah then went out of the city and sat down to the east of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God arranged that a castor-oil plant should grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head and soothe his ill-humour; Jonah was delighted with the castor-oil plant. But at dawn the next day, God arranged that a worm should attack the castor-oil plant – and it withered.
Next, when the sun rose, God arranged that there should be a scorching east wind; the sun beat down so hard on Jonah’s head that he was overcome and begged for death, saying, ‘I might as well be dead as go on living.’ God said to Jonah, ‘Are you right to be angry about the castor-oil plant?’ He replied, ‘I have every right to be angry, to the point of death.’ The Lord replied, ‘You are only upset about a castor-oil plant which cost you no labour, which you did not make grow, which sprouted in a night and has perished in a night. And am I not to feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, to say nothing of all the animals?’
Gospel
Luke 11:1-4
How to pray
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.”’
CatholicJules.net 