Saturday May 15

SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER

 

PRAYING IN JESUS’ NAME GOD’S WILL

 

Introduction

When we pray, what do we want God to do? Do we want to transform God with our prayers and bend him to do our own will, or do we seek his will? Do we have time in the dialogue of prayer to listen to him? Do we realize that he speaks to us in his word, in Christ, in the Gospel? And that he speaks to us in our personal history, the events of life, in people around us? If we pray in the name of Christ, it should be with Christ’s attitude of openness to God and his will.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord, our God,
when we pray to you
in the name of Jesus, your Son,
give us also his attitude.
May we not seek ourselves in prayer
nor try to force you to do our will,
so that we can enjoy our self-made islands of peace.
Make us restless to seek your will
and to commit ourselves into your hands,
as Jesus your Son did,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
forever and ever.

 

Reading 1: ACTS 18:23-28

After staying in Antioch some time,
Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence
through the Galatian country and Phrygia,
bringing strength to all the disciples.

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,
an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.
He was an authority on the Scriptures.
He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,
with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,
although he knew only the baptism of John.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;
but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they took him aside
and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
And when he wanted to cross to Achaia,
the brothers encouraged him
and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
After his arrival he gave great assistance
to those who had come to believe through grace.
He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,
establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 47:2-3, 8-9, 10

(8a) God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands;
shout to God with cries of gladness.
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For God’s are the guardians of the earth;
he is supreme.
R. God is king of all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Alleluia : JN 16:28

Alleluia, alleluia.
I came from the Father and have come into the world;
now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
R.Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: JN 16:23B-28

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have told you this in figures of speech.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name,
and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

 

Intercessions

–   When we see so much injustice, abuse of power, lack of love in our world and even in the Church, let your Spirit keep us from discouragement, we pray:

–   When there are many men and women who expect from us encouragement and hope, may the Spirit make us speak uplifting words, we pray:

–   When our communities are lax and divided, may the Spirit unite us and restore our fervor and joy, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
at times we get tired of praying,
perhaps because it reminds us
that we are not self-sufficient.
Help us to ask you
not so much to give us the things
that we may think we need,
but to teach us to give ourselves
to you and to others,
as Jesus did and still does now to us,
he who is our Lord for ever.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
there are times when prayer comes easy
and when we can open our hearts to you.
This may be very helpful to us,
but help us also to make time for you
when praying is not easy,
that we may listen to you when you speak to us
in your Word and in people,
and in the events of life
that spell your loving will to us,
but make us listen especially to your Son,
your living word here among us,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever.

 

Blessing

We are sure that God loves us and that he will give us anything good we need and ask in the name of Jesus. May God give you that certainty of faith and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Today Jesus makes a solemn promise that whatever his disciples ask the Father in Jesus’ name will be given to them. Up to this, of course, they have not been praying to God through Jesus. That will only happen after the resurrection and ascension. But then it will become the normal way for the Church to pray to the Father as we do in all the prayers in the liturgy of the sacraments. “Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

But it is also true that sometimes we ask for good health for a loved one, we ask for his blessings in the life of our neighbour or our friend or our family member, whom we know is unhappy and lost. We ask it with all the strength and with all the faith because there are situations in which we feel absolutely powerless and from the bottom of our hearts we pray: “Lord, help us / help me”.

But our experience tells us that many times nothing happens. Despite our faith-filled prayer, nothing happens! Is it because God not listen to the prayers of his children? Is it that our prayer is no more than a cry to the deaf ears? Is there no one on the other side? In today’s Gospel Jesus promises that he himself will ask the Father for us and that we will receive an answer… But nothing!

Here we enter the realms of faith, of trust. We believe that we are in the hands of the good father who loves us. And we believe that despite all the pains, physical limitations, illnesses, we are sure that God loves us, in a strange way, but he loves us.” “The Father already loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

Our Father already knows all our needs and he wants to satisfy them for us in his love. When we are closely related in love and faith with the Father and Jesus, the Father provides us with what is the best for us. Our prayer through Jesus is not to tell God something he does not know already. Rather it is to help make ourselves aware of what our real needs are and to go to where those needs will be answered.