Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

When we suffer, God is not indifferent, but rather gives us the strength to overcome our limitations. He takes our brokenness and makes it whole again through his mercy.

Gospel according to Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he has finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us our daily bread each day. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’” And Jesus said to the disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And your friend answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least, because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receivers, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “Is there any father among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give the child a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Mosaic of Jesus Christ - Ceiling of a church in Cambridge - Public Domain.

Reflections

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches about the importance of prayer. He uses a parable of unfailing hospitality to illustrate furthering our relationship with God through Prayer. 

The Our Father is the most well-known prayer in Christianity. It is the first prayer we teach our children and the first prayer we say when we are in some sort of danger or difficulty. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer as it is also known, “is truly the summary of the whole Gospel” (CCC, Section 2761: 6), and the summary of the Old and the New Testament Scriptures.

Saint Augustine, believed that all prayers, including those in the Holy Scripture, can be summarized by the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: “Run through all the words of the Holy Prayers [in Scripture], and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord’s Prayer.” (CCC 2762: 6) St. Thomas Aquinas called it, “…the most perfect of prayers…[for] in it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer teaches us not only to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.” (CCC 2763: 6). 

Throughout his life, Jesus prayed fervently and often to the Father. We find evidence in the Bible that He prayed on special occasions (Luke 3:21), alone in the desert, (Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4), before embarking on a mission (Luke 6:12), each time before he performed a miracle and healing (i.e., John 11:41-42; Matthew 13-15) he prayed for the disciples (i.e., Luke 22:31-32), he prayed at a secluded place alone (Luke 5:16), prayed with the disciples (Luke 9:28), when he was sad and desperate (Luke 22:40-44), and when he was suffering (Matthew 27:46), he prayed for those who were hurting him (Luke 23:34), and he prayed to surrender himself entirely to the will of the Father (Luke 23:46). 

As a Rabbi, Jesus would have prayed the Shema and the Amidah daily. (2) The Shema is a foundational Jewish prayer which declares the oneness of God. It is the first prayer taught to Jewish children, and “the last prayer on the lips of every Jewish person as they pass from this world to the next.” (3) “Shema” means to hear, and the words of the prayer are: “Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is One.” (3) Its significance is to acknowledge the ultimate Kingship of God, place Him in the center of our lives, and to pledge ourselves to God. (3) The Amidah is a central Jewish prayer consisting of praise, petitions, and praise of God. (4) A third prayer, the Kaddish, is an Aramaic prayer, mostly recited in the Temple and mourning rituals, sanctifying God. (5) Each of these prayers contains a set of words and formulas to follow, but when they are said with the heart, they place us in direct spiritual connection with God. (3)

So, it was not unlikely, to find Jesus, “at a certain place” (Luke 11:1) in prayer; it is safe to conclude that he was praying at every step of his mission, frequently during the day, and night. As the Son of God, His very presence moved with the heart of God. And the disciples, who were familiar with the Jewish prayers since their childhood, came to him, drawn by the Son’s closeness to the Father, to “teach [them] how to pray” (Luke 11:1) to be with the Father in a deeper and closer relationship: in “straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous assurance, humble boldness, and the certainty of being loved.” (CCC 2778: 6) 

The words that Jesus gave his disciples establishes through Him an intimate relationship with God, the Father. “Our Father,’ (“Abba,” as Jesus used this affectionate term in Aramaic for the Father; Gal 4:6) brings us into a filial relationship to the Father, through His Son, Jesus, and confirms us to ourselves as the beloved children of God. (6) Through Jesus, the Son, through whom we have been adopted Children of God, it “…reveals to us to ourselves and reveals the Father to us” (CCC 2783: 6) The words invoke the love of the Holy Trinity in “Heaven” which is not in a distant place, but in a Holy place, “close to the humble and contrite heart.” (CCC 2794: 6) recalling that heaven is our homeland, and our destination. Next, placing our entire trust in God, we praise His name, love, adore and bless Him, and present seven petitions, seven blessings. (6). 

The next lines, “Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-13), draw us in with a burning desire to see the will of God being fulfilled, as it has been in the mission of Jesus, and at the end of times, when he comes again in glory, orienting us to be instruments in bringing God’s work to fruition with His help, and our hope directed toward the final fulfillment, “for God is not yet all in all” (CCC 2804: 6). 

The second set of petitions start with the requests “give us...forgive us…lead us not…and deliver us” (Luke 11:3-4) and acknowledge our reality in the here and now, in the world and history from where our prayer rises as “deep calls to deep” (CCC 2805: 6) to the infinite glory and love of God to help us, in the name of Christ, to accomplish our mission for our sake and for the sake of the whole world. “This day” refers to the time of God, our time of need. (5) “Bread’ means both material and spiritual good, that like the yeast, rises and multiplies, as we share with others. (CCC 2830-2837: 6). “Forgiveness…as…we forgive” (Luke 11: 4) is an acknowledgement of our failures and the possibility to find redemption in the Sacraments of the Church, coupled with responsibility to be merciful and charitable, considering that with respect to the perfection of God His love, we are always debtors (CCC 2839-2845:6). 

The revolutionary teaching, to “love our enemies,” as Jesus explained in the Sermon on the Mount, is to prompt us to a simple commandment regarding our interactions with others: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another” (Rom 13:8) and to trust that with God everything is possible. The final line” do not lead us into temptation…but deliver us from evil” (Luke 11:4), refers to our decisions that can be either life-giving or deadly and through which we offer up the distress and the suffering of the world, caused by Evil who opposes God’s plan (CCC 2846-2849:6). We pray for spiritual discernment, and strength, grace, and vigilance, showing forth the victory that was already won by Jesus, and imploring the gifts of peace and perseverance until the end of time (CCC 2850-2854:6). 

The final closing lines, “For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen” (CCC 2855: 6), were added by the Early Church to draw us back into a final and full glorification of God and adoration and thanksgiving for His work in our lives and the world, placing ourselves entirely in His hands “…until the mystery of salvation will be brought to its completion and God will be all in all.”  (1Cor 15:24-28). “Amen” means “so be it,” regarding the petitions, and concludes our prayer to God. (CCC 2865: 6). 

Jesus reaffirms that the Father hears our prayers with a parable and a few metaphors. The parable of hospitality in this Gospel reading goes beyond showing charity during the day, to our friends, neighbors, or strangers during the day. It extends during the night. This powerful image reinforces that God is not “deaf” or “distant” from us, and that no time of the day, or type of request “inconveniences” Him. God in his infinite power, mercy, and love, knows how to give what is best for our needs. Most of all, He provides spiritual help to face the trials of life. This means that when we are suffering or we are faced with suffering, God is not indifferent towards us. He gives the strength to make the most of our possibilities as human beings. He knows well our limitations and circumstances. In his mercy, he takes the fragments that are beyond our strength, and we cannot mend, and makes them whole.

The message of the Gospel of today is that God loves us infinitely and we can entirely trust him, just like a child trusts a reliable and caring parent. As Pope Francis explained, God, our Abba, Father, “…will not hide his face from us, not will he close himself in silence, because as our Father, he never looses sight of us and loves us unconditionally even when we think we are unworthy…There is also something maternal in the love of the Father, who accompanies and nurtures the development of our new life in Christ as his adoptive sons and daughters. [For] God is not only a father: he is like a mother who never ceases to love her children or to want to be part of their lives.” (7)     

References

  1. Hostetler, B. (2025) Seven Moments when Jesus turned to Prayer. Guideposts. Retrieved from: www.guideposts.org/prayer/how-to-pray Accessed: July 25, 2025.
  2. Catholic Identity (2020). Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – The Shema. Retrieved from: https://catholicidentity.bne.catholic.edu.au/scripture/SitePages/Deuteronomy-649--The-Shema.aspx?web=1 Accessed: July 25, 2025.
  3. Sobel, J. (2021). What Prayer Did Yeshua-Jesus Pray Every Day and Night? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D42hTGPAH0
  4. Kohn, D. (2025). The Amidah. My Jewish Learning. Retrieved from: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-amidah/ Accessed on: July 25, 2025.
  5. BimBam (2014). How to Say the Mourners’ Kaddish. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5dUVhQxLDM Accessed: July 25, 2025.
  6. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2025). Section 2778. Retrieved from: www.catholicculture.org. Accessed: July 25, 2025.
  7. Bordoni, L. (2019). Pope at general Audience: address God as a child would his father. Vatican News. Retrieved from: www.vaticannews.va. Accessed: July 25, 2025.