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St.
Leonard Catholic Parish
The Prayer That Jesus Taught Us
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In
this Sunday's Gospel Jesus teaches us how to pray. He responds to a
disciple’s request for guidance on how to pray and is very direct
when he says, "When you pray, say,” and then proceeds to give
the disciples a prayer that we have come to know as the "Our
Father". No other prayer comes directly from Jesus for our own
personal use and, as a bonus, we are given a model for all of our
prayers.
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We
start with adoration by putting God’s holy name first and
surrendering to His will. We ask to be strengthened by food, both
physical and spiritual, this day and every day. We commit to
forgiving others as we too are forgiven by God for our failings. And
finally, we ask the Lord to keep us from temptation and safe from all
evil. This should be our approach to all prayer; adoration,
contrition, thanksgiving and a humble and earnest request.
Jesus
then continues in our Gospel reading to explain the importance of
prayer by comparing how people, even sinful and uncaring people,
respond to repeated requests. Jesus ends this lesson by inviting His
disciples to persevere in prayer and to keep on asking, seeking, and
knocking on God’s door.
In
order to maintain our positive relationship with God, I encourage you
to pray the words of the "Our Father" directly as they have
been handed down to us or simply use the model that Jesus has offered
to speak directly with God. Most importantly, be steadfast and
persistent in your prayers and God will reward you.
God bless you folks. Father Gerard
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▶ Genesis 18:20-32 - Abraham intercedes for Sodom
▶ Colossians 2:12-14 - Sovereign role of Christ
▶ Luke 11:1-13 - The
Our Father
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