The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to praise Father God for the unfolding of the Divine Will even when it seems to be in conflict with our plans and needs.
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The reading from the Book of Jonah described how his anger has Jonah reproved by God.
* [4:11] A selfish Jonah bemoans his personal loss of a gourd plant for shade without any concern over the threat of loss of life to the Ninevites through the destruction of their city. If a solicitous God provided the plant for a prophet without the latter’s effort or merit, how much more is God disposed to show love and mercy toward all people, Jew and Gentile, when they repent of their sins and implore divine pardon. God’s care goes beyond human beings to all creation, as in Job 38.1
Psalm 86 is an individual lament of a servant of God.
* [Psalm 86] An individual lament. The psalmist, “poor and oppressed” (Ps 86:1), “devoted” (Ps 86:2), “your servant” (Ps 86:2, 4, 16), “rescued…from the depths of Sheol” (Ps 86:13), attacked by the ruthless (Ps 86:14), desires only God’s protection (Ps 86:1–7, 11–17).2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus offers the Lord’s Prayer in response to a request from his disciples.
* [11:1–4] The Matthean form of the “Our Father” occurs in the “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 6:9–15); the shorter Lucan version is presented while Jesus is at prayer (see note on Lk 3:21) and his disciples ask him to teach them to pray just as John taught his disciples to pray. In answer to their question, Jesus presents them with an example of a Christian communal prayer that stresses the fatherhood of God and acknowledges him as the one to whom the Christian disciple owes daily sustenance (Lk 11:3), forgiveness (Lk 11:4), and deliverance from the final trial (Lk 11:4). See also notes on Mt 6:9–13.3
Barbara Dilly comments that Jonah was certainly feeling sorry for himself and even quite self-righteous. We all do that too.
In those times, like he did with Jonah, God gently puts us in our place and assures us that God alone dispenses judgment, mercy, and blessings. I must keep relearning that I can’t presume my will for my life, or the lives of others is wiser than the wisdom of God. Like Jonah, I am reminded of “my place.” Yet, the lessons for today help me see that “my place” is not one of marginality with God. Like Jonah, my life doesn’t need to be such a drama of give and take, win and lose. It can be one of quiet, trusting, gratitude.4
Don Schwager quotes “The privilege and responsibility of calling God Father,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"For the Savior said, 'When you pray, say, 'Our Father.' And another of the holy Evangelists adds, 'who art in heaven' (Matthew 6:9)... He gives his own glory to us. He raises slaves to the dignity of freedom. He crowns the human condition with such honor as surpasses the power of nature. He brings to pass what was spoken of old by the voice of the psalmist: 'I said, you are gods, and all of you children of the Most High' (Psalm 82:6). He rescues us from the measure of slavery, giving us by his grace what we did not possess by nature, and permits us to call God 'Father,' as being admitted to the rank of sons. We received this, together with all our other privileges, from him. One of these privileges is the dignity of freedom, a gift peculiarly befitting those who have been called to be sons. He commands us, therefore, to take boldness and say in our prayers, 'Our Father.'" (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 71)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 11:1-4 advises that following Jesus in our prayer is the key to following him in our thoughts and actions. As we pattern our prayers on his way of prayer, we will begin to think like him. His desires will become our desires, and his priorities will become our priorities.
So try using the Lord’s prayer as an outline for building your own prayer. Recall the truths about God, your Father. Look forward to the coming of his kingdom. Commit yourself to doing his will. Try to be more forgiving so that you can find his mercy more readily. Eat your fill at the Lord’s table. Seek his protection from the evil one.6
Friar Jude Winkler describes how the story of Jonah is a parable about how Israel needs to treat other people. The intimacy expressed in the Our Father was not common in Jesus time. Friar Jude prefers a petition that we be kept from the final test.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Francis of Assisi was fully at home in this created world. He saw all things in the visible world as endless dynamic and operative symbols of the Real, a theater and training ground for a heaven that is already available to us in small doses in this life. What you choose now, you shall have later seems to be the realization of the saints. Not an idyllic hope for a later heaven but a living experience right now.
We cannot jump over this world, or its woundedness, and still try to love God. We must love God through, in, with, and even because of this world. This is the message Christianity was supposed to initiate, proclaim, and encourage, and what Jesus modeled. We were made to love and trust this world, “to cultivate it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15), but for some sad reason we preferred to emphasize the statement that comes in the previous chapter, which seems to say that we should “dominate” the earth (Genesis 1:28). I wonder if this is not another shape of our original sin. God “empties” Godself into creation, and then we humans spend most of history creating systems to control and subdue that creation for our own purposes and profit, reversing the divine pattern.7
As we recite our prayer to the Father we consider our need for grace that opens us to the awe of the mercy of God that we struggle to extend to others on our journey.
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