17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) - 24 July
24th July 2022
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) - 24 July
“When you say the Our Father, God’s ear is next to your lips.”
- St André Bessette
In today's gospel reading we have the disciples asking Our Blessed Lord to teach them to pray. In this reflection, Venerable Fulton J Sheen explains not only what is prayer, but also why we should pray.
"What is prayer? The best definition of prayer is that it is a lifting of the mind and the heart to God. Prayer is a dialogue. Man breaks silence in two ways: a dialogue with his fellow man and a dialogue with God. Prayer is a lifting of the heart and mind to God; notice we said nothing about the emotions. Prayer is in the intellect, in the will, and in the heart; it is embracing a love of truth with a resolve and determination to grow in love through an act of the will.
"Why should we pray? Why breathe? We have to take in fresh air and get rid of bad air; we have to take in new power and get rid of old weaknesses. We pray because we are orchestras and always need to tune-up. Just as a battery sometimes runs down and needs to be charged, so we have to be renewed in spiritual vigour. Our Blessed Lord said, 'Without Me you can do nothing.'
"The person who thinks only of himself says only prayers of petition; the one who thinks of his neighbour says prayers of intercession; whoever thinks only of loving and serving God says prayers of abandonment to God's will, and this is the prayer of the saints.
"The degree of our devotion and love depend upon the value that we put upon a thing: St Augustine says, 'Amor pondus meum'; love is the law of gravitation. All things have their centre. The schoolboy finds it hard to study, because he does not love knowledge as much as athletics. Business executives find it hard to think of heavenly pleasures because they are dedicated to the filling of their 'barn.' The carnal-minded find it difficult to love the spirit because their treasure lies in the flesh.
"The essence of prayer is not the effort to make God give us something. Prayer, then, is not just informing God of our needs, for God already knows them. Rather, the purpose of prayer is to give God the opportunity to bestow the gifts He will give us when we are ready to accept them.
"One can be impolite to God, too, by absorbing all the conversation, and by changing the words of Scripture from 'Speak, Lord Thy servant hears' to 'Listen, Lord, Thy servant speaks.' God has things to tell us that will enlighten us - we must wait for Him to speak.
"The Lord hears us more readily than we suspect; it is our listening to God that needs to be improved. When people complain that their prayers are not heard by God, what often has happened is that they did not wait to hear God's answer.
"We become like that which we love: If one loves the material, one becomes like the material; if one loves the spiritual, one is converted into it in his outlook, his ideals, and his aspirations. Given this relationship between love and prayer, it is easy to understand why some souls say: 'I have no time to pray.'
"It is never true to say that we have no time to meditate; the less one thinks of God, the less time there will always be for God. The time we have for anything depends on how much we value it. Thinking determines the uses of time; time does not rule over thinking. The problem of spirituality is never, then, a question of time; it is a problem of thought. For it does not require much time to make us saints; it requires only much love." (Your Life is Worth Living and Go to Heaven)
World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly - Sun 24 July 🧓👩🦳
“Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Psalm 71:9
We Join with the Holy Father in praying for all grandparents and the elderly this weekend. May they always be honoured, appreciated and loved, and their lives treasured and treated with respect by members of society, especially those in government and the medical professions.
Prayer for Grandparents by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
Lord Jesus, You were born of the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne. Look with love on grandparents the world over. Protect them! They are a source of enrichment for families, for the Church and for all of society. Support them as they grow older. May they continue to be for their families strong pillars of Gospel faith, guardians of noble domestic ideals, living treasuries of sound religious traditions. Make them teachers of wisdom and courage, that they may pass on to future generations the fruits of their mature human and spiritual experience.
Lord Jesus, help families and society to value the presence and role of grandparents. May they never be ignored or excluded, but always encounter respect and love. Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed in all the years of life which you give them.
Mary, Mother of all the living, keep grandparents constantly in your care, accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage, and by your prayers, grant that all families may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland, where you await all humanity for the great embrace of life without end. Amen. 🙏💖💐
Prayer for the Elderly
Heavenly Father, we bring before You all the elderly and infirm in our world. Protect them from those who seek to harm them. Keep them under the shadow of Your wing. Regard each of them as the apple of Your eye. Keep them close to Your Divine Heart, which is filled with love for all of Your children. In Your mercy, draw each one into closer fellowship with Yourself. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 💖🙏💐
Lovely Lady Dressed In Blue - A Marian poem by Mary Dixon Thayer
Lovely Lady dressed in blue - teach me how to pray!
God was just your little boy. Tell me what to say!
Did you lift Him up, sometimes, gently on your knee?
Did you sing to Him the way Mother does to me?
Did you hold His hand at night? Did you ever try
Telling stories of the world? O! And did He cry?
Do you really think He cares if I tell Him things -
Little things that happen? And do the Angels' wings
Make a noise?
And can He hear Me if I speak low?
Does He understand me now? Tell me - for you know.
Lovely Lady dressed in blue - Teach me how to pray!
God was just your little boy, and you know the way. 🙏💖