HOMILY OF THURSDAY 11TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
HOMILY OF THURSDAY 11TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: HOW TO PRAY
BY: Bishop Gerald M. Musa
Prayer is not an opportunity to display eloquence, grammar, and phonetics but a way to strengthen our relationship with God. Jesus says, “In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). Therefore, prayer must not be noisy, meaningless, or filled with a multiplication of words.
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St. Francis de Sales speaks about effective prayers, saying, “Do not distress yourself about prayers. It is not always necessary to employ words, even inwardly, it is enough to raise your heart and let it rest in our Lord, to look lovingly up toward this divine Lover of our souls, for between lovers the eyes speak more eloquently than the tongue.” Prayer is not just about expressing our personal needs to God but also about expressing our communal needs as a family, community, nation, and corporate entity. Prayer cannot be reduced to requests for material needs while neglecting our spiritual needs.
In praying, we seek God’s mercy and ask for the grace to be merciful. We submit ourselves to His will, entrust ourselves to His deliverance, seek strength to conquer evil, and trust in His providence. The ‘Our Father’ (Pater Noster) is a prayer that reminds us that we have a common Father, who is God, and that we share a common bond as children of the same Father. How effective is our prayer?
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