Pray With Charity

Remember to pray for the needs of others before your own.The Lord loves a generous heart. Very often our hearts are closed and their hardness make them impervious to the Father's merciful love; but by forgiving and refraining from anger our hearts are opened to his grace. Many people have been miraculously given according to their needs after forgiving their enemies.

Pray with hope and thanksgiving!

St. Paul uses a very unique title when he calls Jesus "our hope" (1Ti 1:1). The word 'hope' means "a confident expectation". It is closely related to 'faith'. The prayer of Jesus makes Christian prayer an efficacious petition.He is its model, he prays in us and with us.Jesus also prays for us - in our place and on our behalf. He is also the source of true joy and peace for in him, we are freed from the law of sin and death and we have strength to do what is good, and turn away from evil. In him there is joy, knowing that God will supply our needs.

Let us therefore, have confidence in the efficacy of prayer.It is not only a human force which has its first seed (hope) in us, but the source of its efficacy is in God and in the infinite merits of Christ.
[See CCC 2735-2741]

How Much We Persevere in Prayer?

St. Paul tells us to "pray constantly... always and  for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father" (1 Thess 5:17; Eph. 5:20). When he tells us to pray constantly', he is obviously not asking us to recite endless prayers,but urging us never to lose. Against our dulness and laziness, the battle is that of humble, trusting, and persevering love. this love opens our hearts to three enlightening and life- giving facts of faith about prayer:

1) That, it is always possible to pray: even while walking in public or strolling alone, or seated in your shop...while buying or selling...or even when cooking!

2) Prayer is a vital necessity: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of sin. How can the Holy Spirit be our life if our heart is far from him? Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly dammed (St. Alphonsus Liguori) , and

3) Prayer and Christian life are inseparable:prayer is united to works in good works to prayer.
[See CCC 2742-2745].

Jul 28, Midday Prayer for Saturday of the 16th week of Ordinary Time

Jul 28, Midday Prayer for Saturday of the 16th week of Ordinary Time

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE OUR FATHER? 

Jesus taught us this Christian prayer on the day on which one of his disciple saw him praying and asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). The Our Father is the “summary of the whole Gospel” (Tertullian), and “the perfect prayer” (Saint Thomas Aquinas). The Church liturgical tradition has always used the text of Saint Matthew  ( 6: 9-13).

WHY IS IT CALLED THE “LORD’S  PRAYER”?

The Our Father is called the “Oratio Dominica”, that is, the Lord’s Prayer because it was taught to us by the Lord Jesus himself. The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is “of the Lord.” On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him: he is the master of our prayer. On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer. It is the prayer fulfilled by the prayer of Christ.

WHAT PLACE DOES IT HAVE IN THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

The Lord’s Prayer is essentially rooted in liturgical prayer: The Lord teaches us to make prayer in common for all our brethren. For he did not say “ my Father”, but “ our” Father,  offering petitions in common. The Lord’s Prayer is essential to the liturgy of the Church, for it is an integral part of our Eucharistic celebration, Baptism and Confirmation. The Our Father is also part of the Divine Office. [ See CCC 2761-2776]