Forgive Us

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Then the LORD said, "You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?"  Jonah 4:9-11

Piety

“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." Luke 11:2-4

Study

The notes from the New American Bible help us to put into context the anger that Jonah feels over the loss of his shady gourd plant.

A selfish Jonah bemoans his personal loss of a gourd plant for shade without any concern over the threat of loss of life to the Ninevites through the destruction of their city. If a solicitous God provided the plant for a prophet without the latter’s effort or merit, how much more is God disposed to show love and mercy toward all people, Jew and Gentile, when they repent of their sins and implore divine pardon. God’s care goes beyond human beings to all creation.

Your kingdom come.  Your will be done.

Action

We, too, must go beyond our own narrow concerns and open up to the love, mercy, and graciousness of the Father.  THAT is exactly what the Lord’s prayer helps us to do. In it, we surrender to the Father, ask for only what we need and pledge reciprocity to those around us so that everyone is deserving of the same gifts.

Recite the Lord’s Prayer.

Recite the Lord’s Prayer a second time at half the speed you did the first time. 

Recite the Lord’s Prayer a third time at half the speed you did the second time.