Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Bible Reflections I 17.06.2021 - Thursday I Indraya Manna I
Readings: I - 2Cor. 11:1-11
II - Mt. 6: 7-15
CONCERNING PRAYER - OUR FATHER
Jesus subverts the relationship between God and the people of Israel “we are your people and you are our God” to a relationship of sonship by calling God, “Our Father”. A paradigm shift from ‘God’ to ‘Father’. The father knows to care for his children even without being asked hence there is no necessity for multiplicity of words. Through His prayer “Our Father” Jesus teaches us how to be God’s responsible children in realising the Kingdom of God here on earth. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Mt. 6:33) is the central theme of the Gospel passage today.
The deepest desire and the driving dream of Jesus was, “Kingdom of God” based on freedom, fraternity and justice. In His prayer, Jesus’ teaches us to pray to the Father to make us befitting to behold this great responsibility of restructuring the world starting from each one of us. To understand the prayer better let us reflect on the last three invocations of the prayer.
The first of the last three is about forgiveness. Impeding God’s forgiveness on conditional basis. So we forgive so shall we also be forgiven. There is no choice but to forgive if we wish to be forgiven. Forgiveness liberates. With forgiveness we become free children of God. As free children of God we are called to choose between the good and apparently good, the worldly values and the Gospel values. The worldly values are alluring while the Gospel values are challenging. To stand by the worldly values to sustain in the world or to stand alone with the Gospel values is the constant temptation. Jesus teach us to pray to the Father not to lead us to this temptation but to stand steadfast in His values of love, peace, generosity, humility, honesty, hope, joy and foster fraternity.
In every temptation we have three choices viz. to compromise, to yield to the world and to yield to God. In the last invocation we plead for God’s grace to resist these temptations and yield to God alone so that there reigns justice and order in the world. Our striving for freedom, fraternity and justice can actualize the dream of Jesus, the Kingdom of God, where His name is honoured and His will prioritized. This is a warfare for which we are strengthened and supported by God’s the Word of God, the daily bread that sustains in our daily journey and we plead to God for this bread to fight the battle in bringing up God’s reign here on earth.
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