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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider He spent the night in prayer to God

He spent the night in prayer to God

Published Sep 7, 2021 12:05 am

REFLECTIONS TODAY

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If there is one thing that we should imitate the Lord Jesus in, it is praying hard. The Gospels remind us how much our Lord valued communing with his Father in prayer: in today’s Gospel he is even portrayed as praying all night. In a world such as ours these days, there is an even greater call to pray harder. Everyone is busy; everyone is in a hurry; everyone has his/her eyes on his/her gadget most of the time. The sad thing is, while we can spend hours and hours before our electronic tablets or laptops, we have no time to be alone and pray to God, that is, attune ourselves to him, listen to what he tells us amidst our daily activities. But God is the source of our strength, the fountain of meaning in our life. Without constant communing with him, we are lost in emptiness and meaninglessness that result from our “communing” with false gods. God is not even requiring us to pray all night; but without constant conversation with him, we become more disconnected from him.

GOSPEL • Lk 6:12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, 16and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2021,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

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