17th Sunday of the year, C

What God can do for us

Luke 11:1-13

The literary style of "repetitio" used in the story of Abraham and the Lord simply tells one thing: the Lord's benevolence, mercy, compassion, etc. is unquestionably magnanimous.  But how has His love affected us?  Did it make us more human and humane or have abused the generosity of God?

In the gospel for today, Jesus taught us how to pray.  But at the end part, he mentioned that if evil men know what good things they can give to their children, "how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Thus, let us explore the Our Father.  We might have prayed this a million times.  We hope that each time we pray this, we may have a glimpse of the generosity and love of God.

The first process is to clarify who God is for us.  He is our Father.  The second is know what we should do for our Lord, who is ruler of heaven and earth.  He surely deserves all our adoration.

Only in the third part of the prayer can we have a glimpse of our utmost intentions: to give us our daily bread; then to repair our relationships with one another.  But remember, it is He who provides for all these things: food and love, not us.

Finally, we ask to be delivered from the evil one ONLY through the power of God to deliver us from all evil.

Yes, our Lord can do all these things for us.  Men and money cannot do what God can.  And what can He do?  He can breathe life and love to all of us.