Homily for August 2018 Holy Hour
\nIsaiah 25:6a, 7-9
\nPsalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
\nRomans 8:26-27
\nMatthew 6:7-15<\/p>\n
We started our monthly holy hour last September as part of our diocesan Year of the Eucharist.\u00a0 So, it was only logically that the themes of the readings we used helped us reflect on the Eucharist.\u00a0 After all, it is the Eucharist, the Body of Christ that we see on our altar right now.<\/p>\n
Then came Christmas, then Lent and Easter providing themes for our Holy Hours.<\/p>\n
Now, our diocesan Year of the Eucharist is over and we are in Ordinary Time.\u00a0 That means it is more challenging for me to pick a theme and readings to go with it.\u00a0 I try to listen to the Lord to know what he wants spoken to you (and me!).\u00a0 This can require patience.\u00a0 There is the saying \u201cpatience is a virtue\u201d but I add that I don\u2019t have a lot of patience.\u00a0 So, I have some difficulty in waiting for themes to come to me.<\/p>\n
This time I didn\u2019t have to wait long.\u00a0 In fact, the theme for tonight and some of the readings literally came to me during<\/em><\/strong> our last holy hour.\u00a0 We were just finishing the Prayers of the Faithful and beginning the Lord\u2019s Prayer when it came to me to do a holy hour based on the Lord\u2019s Prayer.<\/p>\n The choice for a gospel reading was immediately obvious, Matthew\u2019s telling of Jesus teaching this prayer to his disciples.\u00a0 From there, a thought in my head said, \u201cisn\u2019t there a verse in Paul\u2019s letters that says we do not know how to pray as we ought?\u201d\u00a0 That lead to the second reading from Romans tonight.<\/p>\n That is where I left last month\u2019s holy hour.\u00a0 I still needed to come up with a first reading and psalm for tonight.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t having much luck until I was working on a funeral and thought of tonight\u2019s first reading from Isaiah.<\/p>\n There may not seem to be an \u201cobvious\u201d connection to the Lord\u2019s Prayer to this passage from Isaiah.\u00a0 Isaiah is speaking about the veil that veils all people.\u00a0 The veil that Isaiah is writing about is \u201cdeath.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cDeath\u201d is not mentioned in the Lord\u2019s Prayer.\u00a0 What is mentioned is \u201cthy kingdom come<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus comes to lift the veil that veils all people.\u00a0 Jesus comes to die and rise for us to give a new perspective on dying.\u00a0 Earthly death is not a final end.\u00a0 Knowing that changes the way we look at life in this world.\u00a0 It calls us to work for the coming of God\u2019s kingdom (\u201cthy kingdom come\u201d<\/em>).<\/p>\n Likewise, the 23rd<\/sup> Psalm speaks of the Lord leading and guiding us.\u00a0 Guiding us to what?\u00a0 To his will being done (\u201cthy will be done<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n Doing God\u2019s will is not easy.\u00a0 It begins with knowing God\u2019s will and then asking for the courage to do it.\u00a0 To know God\u2019s Will we need to pray but we may \u201cnot know how to pray as we ought<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n This brings us to Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray.\u00a0 The Lord\u2019s Prayer is just 55 words but these 55 words really sum up everything we need to be praying for.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Father who art in heaven<\/em>\u201d \u2013 God is not some distant being that we cannot know.\u00a0 He is not just our \u201cmaster.\u201d\u00a0 He is \u201cour Father<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 That means we have a relationship with him.\u00a0 That means he watches over and cares for us.\u00a0 Earthly fathers are not perfect.\u00a0 Some people do not have good fathers.\u00a0 For them, it can be hard to relate to God as Father.\u00a0 Our earthly fathers are not perfect but God is.\u00a0 We can count on God to give us what we truly need.<\/p>\n \u201cHallowed be thy name<\/em>\u201d \u2013 \u201cHallow\u201d is to make \u201cgreat.\u201d\u00a0 God\u2019s name is great because of the wonderful things he does for us.\u00a0 We \u201challow\u201d his name when we praise for what he does for us.<\/p>\n \u201cThy kingdom come, thy will be done<\/em>\u201d \u2013 The first might seem obvious.\u00a0 Of course, we want the world to be as God wants it.\u00a0 But when we pray \u201cthy will be done<\/em>\u201d, are we trusting that God who is all-knowing wills what is best for us or would we rather God do things our way?\u00a0 We pray \u201cthy will be done.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGive us this day our daily bread<\/em>.\u201d \u2013 we cannot do God\u2019s will on our own (nor do we have to).\u00a0 God gives us whatever it is we need to do his will.<\/p>\n \u201cForgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Of course, we want God\u2019s forgiveness.\u00a0 God\u2019s forgiveness is a gift made possible for us by Jesus\u2019 death on the Cross.\u00a0 Sometimes it is difficult for us to believe God forgives us.\u00a0 That\u2019s because our love is broken and we don\u2019t always want to forgive others.\u00a0 We might think we don\u2019t deserve God\u2019s forgiveness.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it is a gift.\u00a0 We can\u2019t earn God\u2019s forgiveness but he always wants to give us this gift.\u00a0 We need to share the gift.<\/p>\n \u201cLead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 – Jesus comes not just to die for us.\u00a0 First, he teaches us what it means to keep God\u2019s commandments.\u00a0 He teaches to be his disciples.\u00a0 In his teaching and in his Crucifixion, Jesus delivers us from death.<\/p>\n God wants to help us do his will.\u00a0 He will guide us but we have to listen.\u00a0 So, now we take some time to quiet ourselves to listen to what God is trying to tell us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Homily for August 2018 Holy Hour Isaiah 25:6a, 7-9 Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 Romans 8:26-27 Matthew 6:7-15 We started our monthly holy hour last September as part of our diocesan Year of the Eucharist.\u00a0 So, it was only logically that the themes of the readings we used helped us reflect on the Eucharist.\u00a0 After …<\/p>\n