20211006 THE LORD’S PRAYER FROM A PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE
06 October, 2021, Wednesday, 27th Week, Ordinary Time
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?’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 85(86):3-6,9-10 © |
You, O Lord, have mercy and compassion.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.
You, O Lord, have mercy and compassion.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.
You, O Lord, have mercy and compassion.
All the nations shall come to adore you
and glorify your name, O Lord:
for you are great and do marvellous deeds,
you who alone are God.
You, O Lord, have mercy and compassion.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:24 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
Or: | Rm8:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit you received is the spirit of sons,
and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’
Alleluia!
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.”’
THE LORD’S PRAYER FROM A PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jonah 4:1-11; Ps 86:3-6,9-10; Lk 11:1-4 ]
Many of us pray the Lord’s Prayer everyday but we tend to rattle it off without meaning what we say, and less still identify ourselves with the Father’s graciousness and mercy. This is understandable when we pray it so often. And hence, it has not much effect on us. But the deeper root of the problem is that some of us can never understand the Father’s heart. More so if we have parents who have not shown themselves to be loving, caring, patient, forgiving or even responsible in providing for our needs. Those of us whose parents were hardly at home, and fostered us out, or worse still, were abusive, hot-tempered, impatient and unreasonable, seeing us as a nuisance and impatient at our mistakes, will find it hard to understand what a Father’s heart and love is all about since they never experienced it.
Unfortunately, some come to understand the heart of their parents only when they become parents themselves. Indeed, only as a parent, can we understand why some parents are extravagant in their love for their children, some are very strict because they are overly protective, some are very fierce because they had been disciplined when they were young. This also explains why some of us who condemn our parents for being over-protective or strict with us when we were young in turn are doubly over-protective of our children when we become parents. Imperfect as parents are, we can at least come to appreciate better when we pray the Lord’s Prayer. Of course, for those of us who have been fortunate to have very good and loving parents, then praying the Lord’s Prayer with the heart would be so much easier. Hence, today, I would like to look at the Lord’s Prayer from the perspective of a father or mother.
The Lord’s Prayer began in Luke’s Gospel, simply with the word, “Father.” This is the fundamental attitude of a disciple’s relationship with God. The word, “Father” connotes the combined sentiments of respect and intimacy. We respect our father because he has authority over us, but this respect is not one of fear but reverence. Indeed, when authority is rooted not in fear but in reverence, it leads to intimacy. So Jesus is asking us to cultivate an attitude of respect and awe when we pray to our Father, but knowing His love for us, we can also be intimate with Him.
To ask His disciples to call God, “Father” means that all disciples of our Lord are brothers and sisters. All of us are His children and that is why we call God “Father.” But we must bear in mind that even those who do not recognize that God is their Father, He does not cease to be their Father, for as the Lord said, “he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45) This is true even when a child becomes wayward and leaves home, renouncing his parents. But the parents continue to regard the rebellious child as their son or daughter. This explains why God saved the Ninevites even though they were not the chosen people of God. The people of Israel were chosen for a purpose, to be His instrument of salvation and not just to enjoy the privilege and behave as if they were a better race than others. God has no favourites and wants all men to be saved. St Peter said, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34) St John sums up our common sonship so concisely, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 Jn 3:1)
Secondly, we are called to acknowledge that God’s name is holy. What does it mean when we make this statement? The name is more than just a way for us to distinguish a person from another. The name of God is holy means that God’s character is holiness. God is different from all other gods, and from us, because His name signifies holiness, which means to be different. How is God different? His character is one of grace, mercy, compassion and love. This is what the responsorial psalm says. “You, O Lord, have mercy and compassion. O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of love to all who call. Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my voice.” This compassion and graciousness of God is seen very much in His dealing with sinners and His tender care for His people.
In the book of Jonah, we read of how much God cared for the Ninevites. He did not blame them for their sins because of their ignorance. He said, “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?” God sent Jonah to save them from the consequences of their sins. But God also cared for the Chosen People of Israel, including Jonah. In spite of the fact that Jonah was wilful in fleeing from Him and disobeying Him, He gave Him the chance to redeem himself by saving him from perdition, just as He gave the Ninevites a chance to avoid perdition as well. God was patient with Jonah when he was angry with Him for not punishing them with the strict justice that Jonah hoped He would. God tolerated his ill-humour and instead humoured him with the example of the caster-oil plant to help him to understand the depth of His mercy and love for the Ninevites just as Jonah had for the plant. How could a castor-oil plant be compared to the lives of the Ninevites?
Thirdly, a disciple must pray for the coming of God’s kingdom. What is God’s kingdom if not a reflection of the name of God, a kingdom of justice, peace, compassion and love? So like a child, a parent always desires what is good for his children. Parents want the best for their children. Of course, it is also true that our earthly parents out of ignorance could desire the wrong ambition for their children because they are influenced by the values of the world. Nevertheless, parents desire the best for their children even though they might be mistaken as to what is best for them. But for God, He desires the best for us all, which is the Kingdom of God, the values of the Kingdom. That was what He desired for the Ninevites as well. If the people and the leaders were to repent, they would live righteous lives and not harm Israel. So the justice of God is not to punish us but to put us right and make us just. In that sense, God was truly just and wise in asking Jonah to urge them to repentance and give up their sinful way of life.
Fourthly, we then pray for our daily bread as we are called to pray for the Kingdom first. Jesus makes it clear, “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 6:32f) To ask for our daily bread means to be totally dependent on God all the time. It is God whom we depend on, not just totally but always. Yet, at the same time, we are assured of His divine providence. Just as our earthly parents take care of us, put our needs before themselves, and even sacrifice their food and pleasures for us, so too God does the same. God puts our interests, well-being and needs before Himself. As St Paul remarked, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? (Rom 8:31f)
Finally, we pray for the forgiveness of sins and the strength to resist the trials of life. The entire book of Jonah is a reminder to us all that we are not perfect and we need to forgive each other. Jonah was condemning the Ninevites but he himself was not perfect either. He sought to flee from God and the responsibility given to him. He was not bothered with the sailors who was battling the storm but hid himself in the cellar of the boat. He was angry with God for His mercy towards the Ninevites. Whereas the sailors showed themselves to be more caring towards Jonah and revered God more than Jonah did. The people and king of Nineveh were more responsive to the call to repentance than Jonah himself. Hence, we must always forgive each other if we want this world to be united as we all have our human frailty. Indeed, God, like our parents, would be most happy to see His children reconciled and live in peace. We all depend on God’s grace to help us overcome our sinfulness and fears in life.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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