Daily Prayer
July 16th, 2010
‘If you had understood the meaning of the words: what I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless’
Matthew 12 : 7
In today’s Gospel we see Jesus being criticised by the Pharisees because he allows his disciples to satisfy their hunger by plucking and eating ears of corn on the Sabbath. This is one of the many occasions when Our Lord is in conflict with the Jewish leaders because of what he does on the Sabbath: especially for his miracles of healing. Jesus sees the Sabbath as a gift of God to his people. It is meant to be a day of rest from our ordinary labour – a day to be renewed in mind and body; a day to show mercy, to promote life.
The Pharisees, on the other hand are stuck in the rigid observance of the law. Their religious legalism makes them arrogant and intolerant. Our Lord refutes their criticism by reminding them that what God wants is mercy and compassion rather than the rigid observance of rules and regulations especially those which are man made.
At the end of the day there is really only one commandment to be observed – the great commandment of love. St. John of the Cross once said that at the end of our lives we would be judged on love – love of God and love of our neighbour shown in our attitudes and relationships.
Prayer
God of mercy and compassion we praise you for your son Jesus Christ whom you sent to show us how we should love one another. We ask you to give us a heart of flesh open to your Holy Spirit so that we may never judge others harshly but always treat them with the respect and reverence due to your children. We make this prayer through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen
The prayer for each day has been prepared by various members of the Holy Family Association. All who visit our website are remembered in prayer. If you would like us to pray for a particular need, simply complete and submit the form on the right hand side of this page. You may wish to leave a comment in the space below.
Just a Thought
How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI
“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”
