Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
June 22. 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062223.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Jesus teaches us how to pray.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:
‘Our Father…

Matthew 6:7-9

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“Don’t babble …”. Gosh, haven’t you wanted to say that to a few people when they ramble around the point without ever making it! And here we have Jesus saying it to us, kindly and instructively, but nonetheless directly.

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This morning, I was thinking about the quality of my own prayer, realizing that every now and again I do babble a lot of nonsense to God before coming to a point of grateful adoration and listening.

And then I remembered a brief clip of conversation from yesterday.

One of the blessings of living in our large Motherhouse is that I am surrounded by wise and holy women steeped in decades of deepening prayer. One of these beloved elders chatted with me last night about her recent retreat. She said, “It was such a peaceful time to pray. And I really wanted to pray… me and God, God and me.” The joyful sincerity and clarity of her statement blessed me with an equal desire to pray that simply.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus opens the door for us to this kind of radical prayer.

It is a prayer which:
grants us the privilege of calling heaven down to earth	Our Father who art in heaven
basks in God’s awesome Presence	hallowed be thy name
invokes that Presence to unfold Love’s design	thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
It is a prayer of:
consistent trust	Give us this day our daily bread
willing repentance	and forgive us our trespasses
unmeasured forgiveness	as we forgive those who trespass against us
and a quenchless hunger for grace	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

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Jesus is teaching us how to pray. His prayer is simple, authentic, and direct. He begins by naming his relationship with God, Abba, Father – an act of humble, intimate mutuality. How do we speak to God in our prayer? How do we name God in the deep silence of our hearts? Father, Mother, Beloved, Sweet Light, Tender Mercy? And by what name does God call me in the quiet rhythm of prayer? Perhaps with words, or with unwordable love.

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Poetry: Praying – Mary Oliver

It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

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Music: Prayer – Ernest Bloch

“Nigun” means a traditional synagogue melody, with tones that Jesus might have heard as he prayed.