Wednesday, June 16, 2004

1:20 am

The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, June 17, 2004
Thursday of the Eleventh Week of Easter

Scripture from Wednesday's Liturgy of the Word:
Sirach 48:1-14
Psalm 97:1-7
Matthew 6:7-15

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

"Your Father Knows What You Need Before You Ask Him. . ."

And yet, He nevertheless urgently desires your conversation about them. Our Father in heaven knows all of our needs far more intimately than we know ourselves. One of the chief purposes of prayer is to grow to the point that we can begin to recognize those needs and differentiate them from our desires.

We often confuse what we need with what we want. We live in a society confused by consumerism and by the drive to possess more and acquire more. Our actual needs are far simpler than we think and it is for this reason that Jesus taught us to pray the "Our Father." Each line of this prayer is directed toward God in a way that opens the soul to His perfect love and communication.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

What better way to start than by calling Him who is all Holiness, Holy! How could we better prepare ourselves to hear and to love Him. And that is our primary need. Our primary need is to fulfill the service God has determined for us since before the beginning of time--to participate in His foreordained will for the salvation of souls. He has predestined us to greatness and to Glory in Him, so how can any mere human desire come close to this Desire of Ages?

So remember, Our Father in Heaven knows not only our needs, but our desires and those things we think we need. He will deliver such of those as fits within His Will, but He will see to it that all of our needs will be met. It's up to us to open our eyes and see what exactly our needs are.

- JuandelaCruz
(sriddle415 at yahoo dot com)
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