May the Lord bless you with peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is 06th October 2021.
We celebrate the memorial of St. Bruno. Bruno of Cologne was the founder of the Carthusian Order, and know for their less profile, publicity and inspiring contemplation coupled with penance.
We reflect on Jonah 4:1-11 and the Gospel of Luke 11:1-4.
Prayer trains our minds to accept the way God treats people and us. At times, we wonder why God is so silent, generous, forgiving, lenient, slow to anger and rich in mercy towards those whom we have a different perspective. If everything we need in our life is achieved by our personal efforts alone, humanity would forget God for good. Love, peace, and compassion are the packages we all come with them as a person, yet we need a mindset, a strong belief, and people to express.
Prayer has two assignments. God’s goodness in listening to our prayers and granting our desire is the first one in the prayer. The other one is our part to forgive others. the moment we address God as Father, we have the bounden duty to treat others as our brothers and sisters.
Have we ever been angry with God for God showing mercy and compassion to the one whom we have issues with? “For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” (Jonah 4:2). Jonah was angry with God for overturning the prophecy against people of Nineveh and showed mercy to them, who in turn repented and changed their ways. The responsorial praises, “Lord, you are tender and full of love.” (Ps.86:15). Converting the moments of confusion and frustration into a dialogue with God in prayer. However disappointing and depressing it could be the situations we need to face; we can find answers in the silence and edges of moments with God to heal the wounds of loving and trusting. Whatever are our sinful situations of the present or the past, God listens to our prayer, heals our wounds, and provides us with the necessary grace to live a life that pleases God.
Reciting prayers do not help us regain the strength we lost in our selfishness and sinfulness. How many times do we recite the prayer of Our Father like a little child, yet we still feel left out, underfed, holding on to grudges and hurts, and have not praised and prayed enough. When we begin behaving and treating others like a loving and forgiving Father, we have found the meaning and measure of the prayer.
Prayer is the recognition of God’s presence in our life in every moment and acknowledging God through our love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to those in need starting from our families to friends and strangers. A complete realization that we have encountered Jesus, the Son of God who allowed us to experience the merciful Father through a loving relationship with God and one another. Let us move from recitation to reflection of the Lord’s prayer in responding to the needs of the others as we all want God to respond to our humble prayers. May we improve the quality of prayer in the light of the Word of God and with the heart of forgiveness. God bless you.