In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us about both prayer and action. Behind these two teachings is Jesus’ image of the one true God. Jesus teaches us to approach God not in fear and trembling but with confidence and joy whenever we pray. Our heavenly Father, Jesus tells us, is even more gracious, loving, and merciful than our earthly parents:
“If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.”
Jesus intends his language to be arresting even shocking. He does not mean literally that parents are wicked. Rather Jesus means that parents, like all of us, are imperfect. If parents, who are imperfect, know how to give good gifts to their children, “how much more” will our heavenly parent, who is perfect and all good, give us the good things that we need. Jesus wants us to approach God in prayer with this attitude. He showed this same trust in his heavenly Father as he was dying on the cross: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
In today’s Gospel Jesus also teaches us what actions our heavenly Father calls us to do. Whenever we pray the Our Father we pray to know and to do God’s will: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” What actions does God demand of us? While there are many prescriptions and proscriptions, do’s and don’ts, in the Bible Jesus give us a clear guide to interpret all of these commandments: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.” The phrase, “Law and the Prophets,” was the way the Jews in Jesus’ day referred to the Bible. God asks us to treat others with the same compassion and love with which we would like to be treated. In this way we not only show our love for our neighbor but also our love for God:
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4:20-21).
Today let us pray and ask God to give us the good gift of loving one another and that include loving ourselves.
Image: “jesus-christ-pray-hand-for-best-wishes-hd-desktop-background-wallpapers” by ThiênLong is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.