This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, July 24th is from Luke 11:1-13.
“Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test’ . . . ‘And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’”
“Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray, also encouraging them to make a prayer of petition, pleading for food each day and for mercy for their sins. Let us in turn be generous with our belongings and with our forgiveness.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Summer 2022
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28
Saint James, Apostle (Feast) – “James, son of Zebedee, was a fisherman with his brother John. He was close to the Lord, being present at the raising of Jairus’s daughter, at the transfiguration, and in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is known as James the Greater, to distinguish him from the other apostle of the same name. He is a patron saint of Spain and of pilgrims.”
Tuesday Jeremiah 14:17-22; Matthew 13:36-43
Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Memorial) – “The gospels tell us nothing about Mary’s parents, not even their names. What we know from Christian tradition is found in non-scriptural writings such as the Protogospel of James. Devotion to St. Anne existed in sixth-century Constantinople and in eighth-century Rome. By the sixteenth century this feast day was universal. Joachim has been honored in the East from the earliest days, but in the West only since the sixteenth century.”
Wednesday Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21; Matthew 13:44-46
Thursday Jeremiah 18:1-6; Matthew 13:47-53
Friday Jeremiah 26:1-9; John 11:19-27
Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (Memorial) – “Martha, her sister, Mary, and their brother, Lazarus were very close friends of Jesus. Martha is a model of hospitality as well as of fidelity in her discipleship. Mary shows us how important it is to listen closely to Jesus. And Jesus called Lazarus forth from the tomb after Lazarus had been dead for four days. May we follow their example in welcoming and listening to Jesus, and affirm with Martha that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.”
Saturday Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24; Matthew 14:1-12
SOURCE: Living With Christ, July 2022