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Tuesday of week 27 of the year

October 5th, 2010

"In my distress I cried to the Lord and He answered me"
Jonah : 2 : 2

The book of Jonah is one of the shortest books in the Old Testament. Most of us know the story because Jesus Himself refers to it saying “As Jonah was in the whale’s belly for 3 days and 3 nights, so will the Son of man spend 3 days and 3 nights in the depth of the earth.” Mt. 12 : 40

Jonah was a reluctant prophet who tried to escape from God but came to realise that God was with him wherever he went. In his desolation and suffering symbolised by his being thrown overboard and swallowed by a whale – Johan remembers God and turns to him in fervent prayer. His prayer is answered, he is set free and once again, is given his mission to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. This time Jonah obeys. He has learned his lesson that disobeying God will not bring him happiness but he has still another lesson to learn.

The prayer of Jonah could be made on behalf of the suffering Church to-day.

Prayer


Prayer : When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered Yahweh. And before you rose my prayer up to your Holy Temple; Those who worship worthless idols lose your grace but I, with songs of praise, well offer you sacrifices. What I have vowed I will make good. Deliverance comes from Yahweh, my God.

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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.”

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