Daily bible reading. October 11, 2023

  October 11, 2023

    Good day to everyone I hope you had a blessed day today, I know I did. Let's end off the day with the daily reading. Today's reading is from the book of Luke, chapter 11, verses 1-4:

    "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."

    In this reading, Jesus teaches his disciples the Our Father, one of the most common and powerful prayers that we have as Catholics. I broke it down into 5 different lines and would like to talk to you about each line and what it means to me. 

    "Father, hallowed be your name." A quick google search defines hallowed as: 

The very first line of the Our Father is calling the Lord and his name holy. The first thing you do when talking to God is showing him the love and respect that he deserves. So grand that just his name is filled with so much holiness in our lives. 

    "Your kingdom come." This line could be interpreted in two ways. The first one would be a prayer that refers back to the book of revelations, where it is said that at the end of time Jesus will come back down and take all his children to heaven, and anyone who isn't ready will never be able to get to heaven. God's kingdom will come down on earth and take what belongs to him. The second interpretation is one that I lean towards more and that's the reflection of our duty as the children of God. This world may be overrun by sin, it's constantly attacked by the devil, but it's our job as children of the Lord to be a representation of what his kingdom looks like. We are to live our lives in his image, and bring his kingdom down here on earth. 

    "Give us each day our daily bread" In this line we ask God for nourishment. We don't ask for a burger, or lobster rolls, but we ask for bread. We don't need a delicious feast, we just ask for a simple bread that will sustain us until tomorrow. We need to feed our body every day to grow big and strong, but what about our soul? Does it not also require nourishment to grow strong and fight against the temptations we face every day. We ask for physical bread, but also for spiritual bread. Lord, feed my body and my soul. I don't need anything fancy, just enough to survive for today.

    "Forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us." We ask for God's forgiveness, for we are not perfect, BUT, we must also forgive those around us. That friend that betrayed you, that girl that cheated on you, even the guy that cut you off on the mass pike. We need to forgive them, move on with our lives. You don't have to be buddy buddy with them or anything like that, but you do need to say hi to them, don't talk bad about them, not even an unpleasant thought about them. It's not our position to judge them, or hate them. If God is willing to forgive them, then so are we, because we are made in his image and strive to be like him every day.

    "Do not subject us to the final test." I had to think about what this last line meant, but here's what I came up with. The final test, in my opinion, is the day we die and present ourselves in front of God. He will look at us and ask, "why should you get into heaven?" We pray to not be put in this position yet because we are not ready to be presented in front of him. Here's the catch, we are never going to be ready to be in his presence. Heaven isn't about charitable work or good deeds, heaven is about having faith in the lord, and doing your best to follow his law. The answer to his question, "Why should you get into heaven?" is simply, I shouldn't, I'm not worthy, but that guy who died on the cross, he said that by devoting my life to him, I could get him. It doesn't matter how much money you donate, or how many people you helped in your life, if you never believe in Christ, never had a true and passionate relationship with him, then it's all meaningless. 

    Next time you recite the Our Father, recite it slowly, allow every one of these messages resonate in you as you pray it. I can assure you, this prayer that you have probably said one thousand times before will have a whole different impact on you compared to before. Have a good night everyone.