Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Our Father

  • How do I pray? What do I pray?  

    How do I pray? What do I pray?  

    June 19, 2025 – Thursday 11th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061925.cfm)

    (Homily on the Fourth Day of Novena for the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help at St. Clement’s Church, Iloilo City)

    How do I pray? What do I pray? What are those that I usually ask from the Lord?

    Others pray spontaneously asking what they want and desire for themselves and for their loved ones. Others are more comfortable using the memorized prayers as forms of meditation and deeper reflection on the mystery of God.

    We too ask many things from the Lord. Others would even have a litany of requests and petitions. And as a form of asking God’s favor we even observe number of days of prayers. This is what we do in observing our Novenas, or the 9 days Misa de Gallo during December, believing that God would grant ones desires and prayers.

    In fact, this is what we do now as we prepare for the Feast of Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, on this Fourth Day.

    Thus, it would be good to take a look in the way we do our prayers, to look at the intentions we make in our prayers. Let us also include the kind consciousness that we have in our prayers. This is something important because this will help us to evaluate our personal relationship with God and with others.

    Now, in today’s Gospel Jesus reminds his disciples of the importance of prayer and also of the importance of the kind of consciousness in their prayers.

    Jesus mentioned about the way the pagans prayed. These pagans loved to use many words in their prayers. They believed that it was in that way that they would be able to get the attention of their gods and goddesses. At the same time, pagans believed it would appease them. They believed that these gods and goddesses were unforgiving, impulsive and frightening. These pagans babbled in their prayers in order to get the favor from these difficult and terrifying deities.

    However, Jesus reminds his disciples that our God is not like that. God is not vengeful. God is not inconsistent. Our God is not terrifying. The Lord God is rather loving and forgiving. Hence, to use many words would not be necessary because God knows the desires of our heart.

    Moreover, as Jesus reminds his disciples, he also tells us now that our prayers are not meant to appease an angry and hateful god or to gain favor from a terrifying god. This also means that the content of our prayers should not be self-centered. To pray is not just to ask something for ourselves but also for others. That is why Jesus taught us his own prayer. His prayer expressed intimacy and closeness with the Father in heaven.

    This prayer starts with these two words, OUR FATHER. It did not say “My Father” and not even “Their Father.” This tells us that when we pray, we always remember others. We are always together as people, as brothers and sisters. Our relationship with God though can be personal but it is also founded in our community. That is why it starts with “OUR” because this includes you and me and everyone else.

    This prayer (Our Father/Lord’s Prayer) tells us that God is a Father. God relates to us personally. God is not somewhere out there who is so far away from us but God is here with us. God as our Father is, indeed, loving and faithful to us. This is evident at how the Lord God continually revealed the divine presence to us throughout our human history. This means also that we are invited to seek God’s will and God’s desire not just our desire. Most of the time, when we pray we only think of what we want and desire but we forget to ask, what is it that you desire for me Lord?

    It invites us also to become dependent on Him because He is generous and faithful to us. To pray, “give us this day our daily bread,” means to be more focused of today, this day not tomorrow because tomorrow has not yet come. Certainly, we can be too anxious of what will happen tomorrow that it will prevent us to see what is more important today. Thus, Jesus invites us to be more contented of today and to ask sustenance enough for today.

    Notice also that in this prayer, it recognizes our sinfulness and need to be forgiven. It is necessary that we become humble and ask God’s mercy because this is the way that we make ourselves open to God’s grace. When we remain arrogant and unrepentant of our sins, then we prevent God to transform us and prevent others to come into our life.

    And finally, we make ourselves aware that there is also the presence of the evil one around us. The evil one constantly tempts us to move away from God. The evil one wants us to cut our relationship from the Lord, thus from the grace of God.

    The evil will always try allure us to think that it is better not to pray and that we do not need God. The evil will seduce us to think that we can do everything in our power without the help of God and that we do no need to think of others but ourselves alone. Be careful then of these temptations.

    With all of these, we find Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help as our guide and best example. Mary showed us how such intimacy with the Lord makes us open and welcoming to the will of God. Mary showed us that to completely trust in the Lord is to make our heart full of love. Mary also showed us that by choosing the Lord, evil has no power over us.

    Being made aware of the consciousness behind the Lord’s Prayer and of Mary’s presence in our life and faith, we too shall grow in our relationship with God and with one another. We may become less self-centered and self-serving and rather become self-giving and life-giving as God desires us to be in our homes and communities. Kabay pa.

  • Praying in the Way Jesus Prays

    Praying in the Way Jesus Prays

    June 16, 2022 – Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061622.cfm)

    The Lord teaches us how to pray. Isn’t it beautiful? The Lord himself taught us how to approach the heart of God not with a lengthy prayer, but with a greater confidence to God who we also call as our Father. Hence, Jesus taught his disciples on how to truly ask the Father and to pray sincerely.

    This is where we also find Jesus’ warning for the disciples not to babble in their prayers but of empty words meant to only impress people. Jesus was conscious how the pagans would use many words but merely babbling. Well, the pagans believed that they have to use a lot of words in order to appease a violent and angry god. However, our God is not violent neither angry not need to be appeased. God, as Jesus introduced to us, is our Father.

    By calling God as our father, this brings us into the affection we have with God. God would surely love being called as our Father, whose only desire is for us to grow in love.

    This invites us now that our prayers and other forms of devotions are not meant to impress others or to flatter or manipulate the Lord because of our long, wordy and unintelligible prayers. What the Lord wants from us is our sincere and humble hearts that recognizes God as our Father.

    The Lord’s Prayer brings us, indeed, into sincerity and humility because the prayers acknowledges first God, as our Father whose “divine will” takes priority than our own. Thus, we seek and recognize the will of God for us and not our wants. This brings us to be more aware of our needs of the present moment, of today, and not to be burdened by our past or to be anxious of what is to come tomorrow.

    This is very important to remember that the prayer Jesus taught allows us to be more aware of our present moment, of our needs and graces of the here and now. This will certainly make us more contented and confident in life for we shall see how God provides and works for us in the present moment.

    Indeed, Jesus invites us and teaches us on how to seek God’s desires because God knows what is best for us by praying the way he prays. May this simple but powerful prayer of our Lord gives us more confidence in the presence of God dwelling among us whose only desire is the best for us. Kabay pa.

  • LAMBING

    LAMBING

    June 17, 2021 – Thursday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061721.cfm)

    Prayer is an essential dimension of our Christian life & spirituality. Our gospel today invites us to reflect upon our prayer life as followers of Christ & God’s beloved children. And, in teaching us the Lord’s prayer, Jesus reminds us not only what to pray but also how to pray & why we pray.

    First, to pray is to be present before God’s presence – being present before God’s presence. When we call our God as our Father, we personally present ourselves before our God and address Him as our beloved Father (Tatay, Amahan, Papa, Aboji). Because of this, second, prayer is all about God and less about ourselves. When we pray, we do tend to be more concerned about the gifts than the Giver. Valid may our present needs and wants be, but before God’s presence, we are more than just what we need, but we pray as His Children. So, pray to the Giver, and less for the gifts. Aspire for His kingdom to come & His will be done now & always in life. Only then & after being present & hoping for God’s will that, third, we ask from Him. And we ask not for what we want but what we need because what we want might not be really what we need & better for us. Again, His will – not ours, be done. Jesus, rather teaches us to ask for three things that we really need in life now: our daily bread, forgiveness, & faith in the midst of life-difficulties.

    To pray then is to be present before God’s presence, to long for His Kingdom & Will to be with us, & to ask for what we really need now than just what we want from Him. In other words, praying is our pamaraig, lambing, tenderness with our Father: a loving conversation with the Giver rather than just asking for gifts & favors.

    Tatay, May Your Kingdom & Will be upon us now & grant us what we really need now – food for the journey, forgiveness for our shortcomings & strength in faith as we follow Jesus, your son in our daily struggles with life.

    So Help Us, Tatay. So May it be. Amen.

  • GOD KNOWS BEST

    GOD KNOWS BEST

    June 17, 2021 – Thursday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061721.cfm)

    Why the need to ask when the Father knows what we need?

    There is a need for us to identify and recognize what we truly need. To be able to see our own realities will bring us closer into humility. This helps us to also own our imperfections and failures, our issues and problems. Then, once we have become aware of our needs and true concerns, we are also able to name the grace that we need.

    This has been presented to us in both readings from the letter of Paul and the Gospel. Let us see them a bit.

    In the letter of Paul, we find him as if scolding the Corinthians because of their situation. Many have become confused because of the acceptance of the Corinthians of other preachers. They seemed to preach the Gospel of Christ but they only brought the people far away from the true Gospel. The “super-apostles” whom Paul called made preaching a profitable career. What they were after was not the Gospel but personal gain. Though he may have sounded angry in his letter, but his love for this Church was greater. He exhorted them to listen well and seek the will of God for them.

    Paul was making them aware of their situation and making them see the problem. Only in recognizing the problem that we will be able to respond accordingly. Thus, it is only when we also become aware of our true needs that we will be able to ask the grace from the Lord.

    The Gospel today leads us into this kind of response. Jesus taught his disciples on how to truly ask the Father and pray sincerely. Jesus also warned the disciples not to babble but of empty words meant to only impress people.

    This means that our prayers and other forms of devotions are not meant also to impress others or to flatter or manipulate the Lord because of our long, wordy and unintelligible prayers. What the Lord wants from us is our sincere and humble hearts.

    The Lord’s Prayer brings us into sincerity and humility because it acknowledges first God, our Father whose “divine will” takes priority than our own. Thus, we seek and recognize the will of God for us and not our wants. This brings us to be more aware of our needs of the present moment, of today, and not to be burdened by our past or to be anxious of tomorrow.

    Indeed, the Jesus invites us and teaches us on how to seek God’s desires for us because God knows what is best for us by praying the way he prays. May this simple but powerful prayer of our Lord gives us more confidence in the presence of God dwelling among us whose only desire is the best for us. Hinaut pa.

  • How do I pray?

    How do I pray?

    June 18, 2020 – Thursday 11th Week in OT – First day of Novena

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/061820.cfm)

    How do I pray? What are those that I usually ask from the Lord?

    Others usually pray spontaneously asking what they want and desire for themselves and for their loved ones. Others also are more comfortable of using the memorized prayers as forms of meditation and deeper reflection of the mystery of God. We usually ask many things from the Lord. Others would even have a litany of requests and petitions. And as a form of asking God’s favor others would even observe number of days of prayer, like observing 9 days novena, or the 9 days Misa de Gallo during December, believing that God would grant ones desires and prayers.

    Well, today we are starting the first day of our novena in preparation for the feast of our mother. I am sure all of us, devotees of our mother have countless petitions these days especially as we are now experiencing a very difficult time. People get sick of corona virus that has no vaccine yet. As a result, our movement has been limited to stay at home. People are having so much difficulty with the status of their jobs and businesses. Others get paranoid of getting sick and some have become anxious of what lies ahead and on what the coming months are offering us. We might have friends and family members too who have become desperate while waiting for their turn to come home as thousands of OFWs and migrant workers were left at the mercy of their Local Government. Thus, the environment itself that we have now has become gloomy and stressful.

    Our theme for today’s novena really speaks of this recent experiences we have now, “OMPH: Source of Help for Families Fragmented for Various Reasons.” Even before this lockdowns and quarantines, we come and ask the help of Mary for our families suffering and being tried from various reasons. Hence, our own family might be wounded by broken relationships, by unfaithfulness and betrayal, poverty, sickness and death. Moreover, covid-19 joined and added to these current concerns we have and has made more difficulties in our families.

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    Thus, we, as devotees would always find comfort and recourse to Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help. I have witnessed it myself recently also. The gate of our parish is left open at some certain time of the day to welcome people to pray in the Church. One afternoon as I was walking in the Church grounds, a woman caught my attention as she prayed before the Icon of Our Mother displayed at the entrance. She stayed there gazing at the icon long enough for me to notice her. Perhaps, she too has been carrying so many burdens and has ran to Mary to ask for help. For many of us, that has been our experience too.

    As many concerns are brought into our prayers it would be good also to take a look in the way we do our prayer, of the intentions we make in our prayer and of the consciousness that we have in our prayer. This is something very important too because this will help us to evaluate our personal relationship with God and with others.

    Now, in today’s Gospel Jesus reminds his disciples of the importance of prayer and also of the importance of the kind of consciousness in their prayer.

    Jesus mentions about the way the pagans pray. These pagans love to use many words in their prayers because they believed that it was in that way that they would be able to get the attention of their gods and goddesses. They believed that these gods and goddesses were unforgiving, impulsive and frightening. These pagans babbled in their prayers in order to get the favor from these difficult and terrifying deities.

    However, Jesus reminds his disciples that our God is not like that. God is not vengeful, not inconsistent or terrifying but rather God is loving and forgiving. Hence, to use many words would not be necessary because God knows the desires of our heart.

    Moreover, as Jesus reminds his disciples, he also tells us now that our prayers are not meant to appease an angry and hateful god or to gain favor from a terrifying God. This also means that the content of our prayers should not be self-centered. To pray is not just to ask something for ourselves but also for others. That is why Jesus taught us his own prayer.

    This prayer starts with these two words, OUR FATHER. It did not say My Father and not even Their Father. This tells us that when we pray we always remember others. We are always together as people. Our relationship with God though can be personal but it is also founded in our community. That is why it starts with “OUR” because this includes you and me and everyone else.

    This prayer (Our Father/Lord’s Prayer) tells us that God is a Father. This means that God relates to us personally. God is not somewhere out there who is so far away from us but God is here with us. This means also that we are invited to seek God’s will and God’s desire not just our desire. Most of the time, when we pray we only think of what we want and desire but we forget to ask, what is it that you desire for me Lord?

    It invites us also to become dependent to God because God is generous and faithful to us. To pray, give us this day our daily bread, means to be more focused of today, this day not tomorrow because tomorrow has not yet come. Indeed, we can be too anxious of what will happen tomorrow that it will prevent us to see what is more important today. Thus, Jesus invites us to be more contented of today and to ask sustenance enough for today also.

    Notice also that in this prayer, it recognizes our sinfulness and need to be forgiven. It is necessary that we become humble and ask God’s mercy because this is the way that we make ourselves open to God’s grace. When we remain arrogant and unrepentant of our sins, then we prevent God to transform us and prevent others to come into our life.

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    And finally, we make ourselves aware that there is also the presence of the evil one around us. The evil one constantly tempts us to move away from God and to cut our relationship from the Lord. The evil will always try to allure us to think that it is better not to pray and that we do not need God. The evil will seduce us to think that we can do everything in our power without the help of God and that we do no need to think of others but ourselves alone.

    In this seemingly hopeless situations, the evil one may tempt us also to believe that we are beyond hope, beyond salvation and beyond the grace of God. Thus, the evil one may bring us into a hopeless scenario to bury ourselves into self-doubt and guilt, into depression and death. Be careful then of these temptations.

    So hopefully, being made aware of the consciousness behind the Lord’s Prayer, we too shall grow in our relationship with God and with one another, that we may become less self-centered and self-serving but to become self-sacrificing and life-giving as God desires us to be.

    May our devotion then to Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, bring us closer to the real source of our hope and help, to Jesus. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR