Daily Prayer
July 17th, 2010
Jesus knew the Pharisees were discussing how to destroy him so he withdrew.
This was to fulfil the prophesy of Isaiah:
‘Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favourite of my soul. I will endow him with my spirit and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations.
Matthew 12 : 15 - 18
Jesus continued his work of healing and preaching even when it made the Pharisees more hostile. He would fulfil the prophesy of the Suffering Servant made by Isaiah 700 years earlier, whatever the cost.
We might ask ourselves what kept Jesus going in the midst of such opposition. No doubt it was his close relationship with his heavenly Father, Jesus was before anything else a man of prayer. Apart from observing the Jewish daily times of prayer he spent long hours alone at night on the mountain or in the garden in deep communion with his Beloved Father whom he addressed as ABBA – Daddy!
When the disciples saw their master at prayer they asked him to teach them how to pray and so we were given the ‘Our Father’. By inviting his followers to address God as Father, Jesus is sharing his unique relationship with them. We too are privileged to enter into a close intimate relationship with God. Our prayer is not to a distant deity but to a loving Father who cares passionately about us.
Prayer
Lord you come not to serve but to be served and to freely give your life so that we might have life in abundance. Help us always to follow you who are the way, the truth and the life.
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.”
