ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Thursday

Year II

Readings

First Reading
Sir 48:1–14

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 97:1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7

Gospel
Mt 6:7–15

Meditation on Today’s Readings

Taken from the Vatican II Sunday and Weekday Missal
Written by Celia Sirois

The relationship between Elijah and Elisha, celebrated by Sirach in today’s reading, was Luke’s model for the relationship between Jesus and his followers. As Elisha stood watching as Elijah was taken up to heaven, the disciples watched the Ascension of Jesus. And as Elisha received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, the disciples on Pentecost received the Spirit of their risen Lord. Thus it was that they came to share his passion and his power. Although he was not there on the day of Pentecost, the same fiery zeal filled Paul who made the Gospel of God revealed in Christ Jesus his unceasing boast. The new Catechism tells us that when we pray the first three petitions of the Our Father, we too are seized by “the burning desire...of the beloved Son for his Father’s glory” (n. 2804).

The first three petitions of the Our Father are summed up in the central one: “Thy Kingdom come.” All three long for the reign of God to come in its fullness. To pray for this is to ask the Father to bring to completion the saving work begun in Christ.

“This is how you are to pray,” says Jesus.

The copyright for the Sunday Missal Introductions is:
Copyright (c) 2001, Daughters of St. Paul
The copyright for the Weekday Missal Introduction is:
Copyright (c) 2002, Daughters of St. Paul