Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 24, 2022
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
What’s the point of prayer anyway? It’s tempting to envision God as a magic genie who grants wishes, a faraway spirit that doesn’t interact with us, or maybe just an accountant tracking good and evil.
Luckily, we imaginative humans have an incarnational God who graciously became human and walked the earth as one of us to give us an example. God acted among us in the life of Christ and continues through the Holy Spirit that dwells among us. God even showed us how to pray and reassured us of prayer’s function and value. So what is it?
The night our first child was born, I was up with the baby. My wife was finally resting, and I had a quiet opportunity to be alone with our daughter. Holding Lucy, who couldn’t speak and could barely move, profoundly impacted my heart.
My instinct was to open a conversation between God and her and me. I asked many open, hopeful questions: “Who will you be? What will you want and need from me? How will I be able to help and love you? What will you teach me? How long will you let me hold your hand?”
I wouldn’t say the moment yielded any epiphanies, but it reinforced the power of prayer as God’s accompaniment. God became one of us and is with us always until the end of time. God even modeled how to pray, reminding us that we glimpse God’s kingdom when we do God’s will.
In this moment of almost-monastic, vulnerable, quiet encounter, God dwelled with Katherine, Lucy, and me. It’s that accompaniment that continues in my family’s prayer today and helps me consciously carry the love of God, who’s always close.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, your Son taught us to pray trusting that you are always ready to give good gifts to all your children. We pray for ourselves, family, friends, and for all the Church. Forgive us our sins and send the Holy Spirit upon us that we may have ever greater faith in your love for us. Help us to always forgive others from the heart and to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters with the same love you have shown us. Blessed be your holy name, now and forever, Amen.
Saint of the Day
Despite the fantastic stories surrounding St. Christina and her martyrdom, there is evidence that a Christian witness named Christina, a young girl, died a martyr and was honored for her faith.
Legend describes her as a young girl of a wealthy Roman family living in Bolsena, Italy. She had great beauty and many suitors came calling for her hand in marriage, but her father intended for her to become a pagan priestess. He set up a special room for her that was decorated with gold and silver images of pagan gods and instructed her to offer prayer and incense to them.
When she was visited by an angel, she became Christian. She went through the family’s house breaking up the golden and silver images of pagan gods and selling the pieces to help the poor. Her father became enraged, and threw her into a nearby lake with a stone tied around her neck. She somehow survived the incident, and was brought before authorities, who ordered her killed with arrows. Other torments were assigned to her, including bites from poisonous snakes and burning in a furnace.
While we do not know that any of this story is true, there is evidence that a maiden named Christina was martyred in Bolsena, Italy, and was venerated by Christians there as early as the fourth century. Modern excavations there have uncovered a shrine that includes a small church, catacombs, and a tomb with a name like Christina on it.
The relics of St. Christina rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Christina, you stood for your faith in the face of death and inspired other Christians, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Christina is in the public domain. Last accessed March 19, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
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