Lord teach us to pray

Fr. Tom Konopka
Feb 24
2 min read

As I read this morning’s Gospel, I kept asking myself if I had anything new to say about the Lord’s Prayer. As I prayed over the words, it struck me that as often as I have said it, I really do not understand it. I was taught that prayer when I was about two and it will be one of the last prayers said on the day of my burial. I thought this morning how sad it would be for me if I never took the time to plumb its depth.

Like many people, I am good at intercessory prayer. People ask me to pray for people all the time and I spend a lot my time asking St Carlo, St Joseph, and the Holy Mother to pray with me for many things. Jesus did not teach us to pray that way. His prayer starts with acknowledgment of who God is and praise of that God. Like Mary in her song, we are to magnify the Lord and to praise the love of God that is beyond our understanding. In my homily, I remarked that when we pray “Your kingdom come,” we better understand what we are asking for. We are praying for a reality that goes against everything we are headed toward. We pray for a world of equitable peace, no racial violence, no hunger, no exploitation, etc. Look at Matthew 25 and the reading from Deuteronomy from yesterday’s Mass. This is the Kingdom we ask God to send. The question I asked myself is: Is this really want I want? It also means the cross.

I know there is more to the pray and I am only scratching the surface, but I guess this prayer which we all know is never old; it calls us to new life, if we listen to its words.

Lord, teach us to pray…………

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