Sister Kate’s “Gospel Question of the Week” (Luke 11: 1-13) …Weekend of 7/27-28/13 … 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This weekend’s passage from the Holy Gospel gives us a lesson on “Prayer.” What is prayer all about? As young children, our Mom taught us “our prayers.” Typically, those prayers included the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and a list of people that we dutifully prayed for each night before climbing into bed. We have never forgotten those prayers. Often times, when I am with someone dying or quite sick in the hospital, I hear these prayers start spilling out of the sick person’s mouth. It’s like these prayers are a part of their very being… they give the person comfort and that’s great! But what about between those two experiences…between our first prayers and perhaps our last? What part does prayer play in your life? In today’s readings, we hear about the many facets of prayer. The first reading from the book of Genesis gives us a model of intercessory prayer (asking God for what we need) provided by Abraham in his dialogue with God. The responsorial psalm “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me,” is a hymn of hope and trust in the Lord, reminding us that God is close to the humble of heart and to all those who call upon Him in their need. The second reading from the Letter to the Colossians does not deal with prayer directly, but it provides a basis for all Christian prayer, especially for the prayer of the Mass, the mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul assures us that even when we are dead in sin, God gives us new life through Jesus and pardons all our sins. In the Gospel passage, the disciples notice that Jesus spends a good deal of His time praying. They are intrigued by this and say to Him, “Teacher, teach us how to pray.” Jesus teaches them what we know today as the “Our Father.” Jesus instructs his disciples to pray to God their heavenly Father with the same boldness, daring, intimacy, conviction, persistence and perseverance as Abraham did and as the friend in need in the Gospel parable did. This passage from the Holy Gospel gives us every reason to believe that prayer for the disciple of Jesus is a MUST! Why is it then, that we who profess belief in Jesus and the message of the Gospel fail to give time and effort to prayer? You could list the reasons (excuses)…here are a few: I’m too busy (often the first thing given up by a busy Christian is his prayer life, thus disconnecting himself from the real source of spiritual power)…I don’t believe that prayer does that much good (Hey, prayer establishes and cements our relationship with God, the source of our power)… a loving God should provide for us and protect us without our asking Him. (Oh really? Are we expected to invest anything in building this relationship with God or is everything on God? Prayer expresses our awareness of our need for God and our dependence on Him)…Prayer is boring (God is NEVER boring…perhaps we need to look to ourselves to find the source of that boredom). Spend a bit of time this week just sitting quietly with the Our Father. Pray it phrase by phrase and see if it speaks to you in a way that it never has before. God is waiting for you to connect! Years ago in Illinois, a young man with six months schooling to his credit ran for an office in the legislature when he was 23 and was beaten. Next he entered business with a partner but failed in that too, and spent the next seventeen years paying the debts of his worthless partner. He fell in love with a charming lady and they became engaged, but she died. The next year he had a nervous breakdown. Relying on the power of prayer, he ran for the post of Speaker (at 29), of Elector (at 31) and for a seat in Congress (at 34). He was defeated each time. He then tried to obtain an appointment to the U.S. Land Office, but didn’t succeed. He became a candidate for the Vice-Presidency and lost. Two years later he was defeated in an election to the Senate (at 46). He ran for office once more and was elected the sixteenth President of the United States in 1860 when he was 51. That man was Abraham Lincoln who put his trust in the power of persistent prayer coupled with never fading faith in God’s goodness. It ook Winston Churchill three years to get through the eighth grade, because he couldn’t pass English! Ironically, he was asked many years later to give the commencement address at Oxford University. His famous speech consisted of only three words: “Never give up!" In today’s Holy Gospel, after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs us that we should never give up in our prayer life. GOSPEL QUESTION OF THE WEEK! Are you faithful and persistent in your prayer?