Abba Assistance

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to ponder the power of prayer to inspire our work towards the goal of living daily in the “Kingdom of God”.

Hallowed Help

The Reading from the Book of Sirach identifies the “hero” Elisha who continued Elijah’s work.

* [48:11] Verse 11b is not extant in the Hebrew; it is represented in the Greek tradition by “for we too shall certainly live.” But this can hardly be the original reading.

* [48:12–16] Elisha continued Elijah’s work (vv. 12–14), but the obstinacy of the people eventually brought on the destruction of the kingdom of Israel and the dispersion of its subjects. Judah, however, survived under the rule of Davidic kings, both good and bad (vv. 15–16).

* [48:13] The reference in v. 13b seems to be to 2 Kgs 13:21 where it is related that a dead man, thrown into Elisha’s grave, came back to life. (Sirach, CHAPTER 48 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 97 presents God appearing in a storm.

* [Psalm 97] The hymn begins with God appearing in a storm, a traditional picture of some ancient Near Eastern gods (Ps 97:1–6); cf. Ps 18:8–16; Mi 1:3–4; Heb 3:3–15. Israel rejoices in the overthrowing of idol worshipers and their gods (Ps 97:7–9) and the rewarding of the faithful righteous (Ps 97:10–12). (Psalms, CHAPTER 97 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus presents The Lord’s Prayer.

* [6:9–13] Matthew’s form of the “Our Father” follows the liturgical tradition of his church. Luke’s less developed form also represents the liturgical tradition known to him, but it is probably closer than Matthew’s to the original words of Jesus.

* [6:9] Our Father in heaven: this invocation is found in many rabbinic prayers of the post-New Testament period. Hallowed be your name: though the “hallowing” of the divine name could be understood as reverence done to God by human praise and by obedience to his will, this is more probably a petition that God hallow his own name, i.e., that he manifest his glory by an act of power (cf. Ez 36:23), in this case, by the establishment of his kingdom in its fullness.

* [6:10] Your kingdom come: this petition sets the tone of the prayer, and inclines the balance toward divine rather than human action in the petitions that immediately precede and follow it. Your will be done, on earth as in heaven: a petition that the divine purpose to establish the kingdom, a purpose present now in heaven, be executed on earth.

* [6:11] Give us today our daily bread: the rare Greek word epiousios, here daily, occurs in the New Testament only here and in Lk 11:3. A single occurrence of the word outside of these texts and of literature dependent on them has been claimed, but the claim is highly doubtful. The word may mean daily or “future” (other meanings have also been proposed). The latter would conform better to the eschatological tone of the whole prayer. So understood, the petition would be for a speedy coming of the kingdom (today), which is often portrayed in both the Old Testament and the New under the image of a feast (Is 25:6; Mt 8:11; 22:1–10; Lk 13:29; 14:15–24).

* [6:12] Forgive us our debts: the word debts is used metaphorically of sins, “debts” owed to God (see Lk 11:4). The request is probably for forgiveness at the final judgment.

* [6:13] Jewish apocalyptic writings speak of a period of severe trial before the end of the age, sometimes called the “messianic woes.” This petition asks that the disciples be spared that final test. (Matthew, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Angela Maynard comments that Jesus reminds us that God knows our needs. Prayer should come from the heart. It should reflect a genuine relationship with God.

 

As I reflect on today’s gospel, I think about how I learned to pray.  I was blessed with wonderful, faith-filled parents.  From the time I was very little, I recall seeing my parents kneeling at their bedside saying morning prayers.  As they tucked me and my siblings in bed each night, they prayed with us… a very simple, “ Jesus bless…”  followed by a litany of family, friends, and occasionally a pet.  I carried on the same tradition with my children.  After having a week with our Grandson, I prayed the same way with him. He is 17 months old, so I listed the litany of those to pray for. I look forward to hearing who he wants to pray for as he learns to talk.

 

One’s faith life can be personal and I believe making it more complicated than it needs to be is a barrier encountered by far too many people who truly try to improve their faith practices or prayer life.  

 

Today’s gospel reminds us how simple prayer can be.  It also reminds us of the importance of a relationship with God and finally, the great value of forgiveness.

 

Consider praying as Jesus instructed and as St. Thérèse describes.

 

“I pray like little children who do not know how to read. I say very simply to God what I wish to say, without composing beautiful sentences and He always understands me.”           

St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Maynard, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Blessed are they who recognize their Father!” by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.

"Our Lord so frequently spoke to us of God as Father. He even taught us to call none on earth father, but only the one we have in heaven (Matthew 23:9). Therefore, when we pray to the Father, we are following this command. Blessed are they who recognize their Father! Remember the reproach made against Israel, when the Spirit calls heaven and earth to witness, saying, 'I have begotten sons and they have not known me' (Isaiah 1:2). In addressing him as Father we are also naming him God, so as to combine in a single term both filial love and power. Addressing the Father, the Son is also being addressed, for Christ said, 'I and the Father are one.' Nor is Mother Church passed over without mention, for the mother is recognized in the Son and the Father, as it is within the church that we learn the meaning of the terms Father and Son." (excerpt from ON PRAYER 2.2-6) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15 comments that we know God as the all-powerful, omnipresent, and eternal Lord of the universe. And he certainly is. However, he is also our Father. Sometimes we can forget that he longs for us to know him also as a Father who loves us, as a Father who wants a personal relationship with us. He knows what we need, and he wants to give us what is best for us. He wants us to sit next to him and tell him everything about what makes us happy or sad, what we think we need, or whatever worries us. And he promises to listen to us as we do.

Above all, God wants us to love him. And one way to do that is through prayer. When we pray with the words Jesus taught us in today’s Gospel, we are praising our heavenly Father, accepting his will in our lives, trusting him for what we need, and asking for his mercy and protection. In other words, we are telling him all the ways we love him and are giving our hearts to him.

So today, come to your Father and love him. And let him love you!

“Jesus, help me to love your Father and to trust in him as my Father.” (Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Sirach gives a summation of what Elijah did to further the goal of asserting the wisdom of Israel is as good as the wisdom of the Greeks. The heroes of Israel include Elijah, whose works are recounted, and Elisha who receives a double dose of Elijah’s spirit. In the Gospel of Matthew, we have heard about the importance of fasting, almsgiving and prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presents the fully developed prayer and the account in Luke is a series of petitions, likely closer to Jesus' words. Friar Jude presents some aspects of the Lord’s Prayer noting God is identified, perhaps controversially, as Father. God is “Hallowed” in words of praise where we get nothing out of it. “Thy kingdom thy will be done” We petition God to give sustenance and forgive trespasses and declare that we are willing to forgive others, to open our hearts. “Lead us not into temptation” in Luke is expressed as delivering us from the trial. We need God’s help to lead us through temptation.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Brian McLaren who asks in The Great Spiritual Migration what kind of spiritual movement could challenge willing sectors of Christian faith to migrate from their systems of belief to a shared way of life centered on love? Jesus framed his message through a powerful central image (kingdom of God), a unique art form (parables), and through powerful slogans (“Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand,”… “Love your enemies,” “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me,” for example). He developed a protest and messaging strategy that included public teach-ins (the Sermon on the Mount), demonstrations (healings, exorcisms, feeding of the five thousand), guerrilla theater (his triumphal entry into Jerusalem), and advanced action-reflection leadership training (deployments and retreats with disciples).

I could see these same dynamics at work in Paul and his colleagues around the Mediterranean, as the “kingdom of God” movement expanded to the far corners of the earth. And I could see similar patterns reemerging throughout Christian history—in the desert fathers and mothers, in Saint Patrick and the Celts, in Saint Francis and Saint Clare, in the Wesleys and the early Pentecostals, in Dr. King and Desmond Tutu, in Dorothy Day and Oscar Romero. Since its earliest and most dynamic centuries, Christianity has been most vital when it has been energized by movements of self-organizing—or perhaps we should say “Spirit-organizing”—cells. These cells have taken root and grown like seeds in communities and institutions. There they have grown, multiplied, and borne fruit—fruit in just and vibrant institutions, fruit in thriving, peaceful, joyful communities. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the Spirit to guide our migration in growing close to Christ as we live out the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

References

Matthew, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6?7 

Maynard, A. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-june-18-2026 

Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/06/18/1594230/ 

Psalms, CHAPTER 97 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/97?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Movement that Continues. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-movement-that-continues/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Your Heavenly Father Knows What You Need. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Sirach, CHAPTER 48 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/48?1 

Grace and Forgiveness

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the message of the Lord’s Prayer trusting Providence to grace us with the “Daily Bread” of forgiveness and openness to deliverance from evil.

Word of Love

The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is An Invitation to Grace.

* [55:10–11] The efficacy of the word of God recalls 40:5, 8. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 55 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 34 proclaims God will make “the Poor” powerful.

* [Psalm 34] A thanksgiving in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this Psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Ps 34:5, 7), can teach the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Ps 34:4, 12). God will make them powerful (Ps 34:5–11) and give them protection (Ps 34:12–22).

Psalm 34:14

Keep your tongue from evil,

your lips from speaking lies. (Psalms, PSALM 34 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents The Lord’s Prayer.

* [6:7–15] Matthew inserts into his basic traditional material an expansion of the material on prayer that includes the model prayer, the “Our Father.” That prayer is found in Lk 11:2–4 in a different context and in a different form.

* [6:7] The example of what Christian prayer should be like contrasts it now not with the prayer of the hypocrites but with that of the pagans. Their babbling probably means their reciting a long list of divine names, hoping that one of them will force a response from the deity.

* [6:9–13] Matthew’s form of the “Our Father” follows the liturgical tradition of his church. Luke’s less developed form also represents the liturgical tradition known to him, but it is probably closer than Matthew’s to the original words of Jesus.

* [6:9] Our Father in heaven: this invocation is found in many rabbinic prayers of the post-New Testament period. Hallowed be your name: though the “hallowing” of the divine name could be understood as reverence done to God by human praise and by obedience to his will, this is more probably a petition that God hallow his own name, i.e., that he manifest his glory by an act of power (cf. Ez 36:23), in this case, by the establishment of his kingdom in its fullness.

* [6:10] Your kingdom come: this petition sets the tone of the prayer, and inclines the balance toward divine rather than human action in the petitions that immediately precede and follow it. Your will be done, on earth as in heaven: a petition that the divine purpose to establish the kingdom, a purpose present now in heaven, be executed on earth.

* [6:11] Give us today our daily bread: the rare Greek word epiousios, here daily, occurs in the New Testament only here and in Lk 11:3. A single occurrence of the word outside of these texts and of literature dependent on them has been claimed, but the claim is highly doubtful. The word may mean daily or “future” (other meanings have also been proposed). The latter would conform better to the eschatological tone of the whole prayer. So understood, the petition would be for a speedy coming of the kingdom (today), which is often portrayed in both the Old Testament and the New under the image of a feast (Is 25:6; Mt 8:11; 22:1–10; Lk 13:29; 14:15–24).

* [6:12] Forgive us our debts: the word debts is used metaphorically of sins, “debts” owed to God (see Lk 11:4). The request is probably for forgiveness at the final judgment.

* [6:13] Jewish apocalyptic writings speak of a period of severe trial before the end of the age, sometimes called the “messianic woes.” This petition asks that the disciples be spared that final test.

* [6:14–15] These verses reflect a set pattern called “Principles of Holy Law.” Human action now will be met by a corresponding action of God at the final judgment. (Matthew, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Tamora Whitney comments that the prayer has become standardized and formal. We say it every day (or maybe we should say it every day). And when we do, we should think about what it means and what we are saying. In these or other words, we are talking to our father. We are acknowledging that we love and respect him.

We need to acknowledge the words and the importance of the words. The prayer is simple but meaningful, when we are deliberate and mean what we say. We are asking for our basic needs, asking for his forgiveness when necessary, and promising to love and care for each other like he loves and cares for us. (Whitney, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “Pardon your brother and sister,” by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Pardon, that you may be pardoned. In doing this, nothing is required of the body. It is the will that acts. You will experience no physical pain - you will have nothing less in your home. Now in truth, my brothers and sisters, you see what an evil it is that those who have been commanded to love even their enemy do not pardon a penitent brother or sister." (quote from Sermon 210,10) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that in the ending verses of Second Isaiah, the Word of God is like the fertilizing rain. If we don’t listen we will be like a desert. The Our Father in Luke’s Gospel is a series of disjoined petitions. Friar Jude suggests Luke is closer to Jesus' actual prayer. Matthew gives us a well developed liturgical “Our Father” prayed in his day. God is our Father and we praise Divine goodness. We surrender with our whole heart and soul. We petition God for bread for life and in the Eucharist. We have to be willing to forgive to be able to open our hearts to accept forgiveness. Friar Jude comments that the bad behaviour we forgive in others has hurt them more than us. In Luke’s prayer, we ask for deliverance from the trial. God allows temptation to offer us an opportunity to grow in love. Everything is an opportunity to show love. When we mess up we can depend upon God all the more.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15 comments that just as a child working with his father almost naturally learns how to think and act like his father. That’s why Jesus doesn’t just tell us to go and do God’s will; he tells us to do it prayerfully, with a heart open to him. He knows that we can’t fully grasp it on our own. We need to hear and learn from him.

So whenever you pray for God’s kingdom to come, picture yourself and the Father building that kingdom side by side. Be open to him working in your heart as he teaches you what his kingdom looks like. Pay attention to what he is already doing in the world. And then wholeheartedly declare, “I delight to do your will, my God!” (Psalm 40:9).

“Father, thy will be done through me!” (Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15, n.d.)

Fr Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Estelle Frankel, a teacher of Jewish mysticism, who describes how the story of Exodus reveals our human preference for what is known, even if something new may be better for us.

The compulsion to repeat the past is apparent in the biblical myth of the Exodus. When Moses led the Israelites to freedom, they often yearned to return to Egypt. Though they were miraculously provided for throughout their forty years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites were often nostalgic for the “good old (bad) days” in Egypt: “We remember the fish we ate free in Mitzrayim—also the cucumber, melons, leeks, onions and garlic” (Numbers 11:5)…. They missed the predictability and sense of control they felt in Egypt—where everything was known. Though in actuality they were oppressed and enslaved by the Egyptians, the Israelites looked back on their time in Egypt with nostalgia because they could not bear the uncertainty they faced as a free people.

Freedom is, ultimately, uncertain and unpredictable. One of the first lessons we all must learn in order to be free is how to “bear” uncertainty and trust in the unknown. In the biblical myth of the Exodus, the manna was a vehicle for learning this lesson. Each day for forty years, the Israelites would have to go out and gather their daily supply of manna—just enough for that day….

The manna provided the necessary preparation for becoming a free people, for freedom requires an ability to bear uncertainty, to not know what is going to happen next, and to trust in the unfolding journey. (Rohr, 2025)

We let the closing petition of the Lord’s Prayer inspire us to reject evil and surrender to God’s desire for us to forgive those who trespass against us.

References

Isaiah, CHAPTER 55 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/55?10 

Matthew, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6?7 

Meditation on Matthew 6:7-15. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/24/1508049/ 

Psalms, PSALM 34 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/34?4 

Rohr, R. (2025, March 13). Manna: An Invitation to Something New. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/manna-an-invitation-to-something-new/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Your Heavenly Father Knows What You Need. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Whitney, T. (2026, February 24). Daily Reflection February 24, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-24-2026