Friday Fevorino

Readings:

Jer. 20:10-13; Ps. 18; Jn. 10:31-42

Last night, the pastor and I did a live stream called “Stump the Priest” on our parish YouTube channel. During the stream, one of the questions asked was: Why do we not say “please” when we pray the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)? At first examination, it does seem as though we are demanding things from God: give us our daily bread…forgive us our trespasses, etc. And while the answer to why we pray this way is simple: It is how Jesus taught us to pray (see Mt. 6:9, Lk. 11:2), we omit the etiquette of “please” and “thank you” because God knows what we need even before we ask; He knows our every desire. But, can we say, in the midst of our own distress, that God is one of our desires? The Psalm from today’s readings is one of my favorite psalms because it starts: “I love you, O Lord.” It shows both a desire for the Lord and faith that He will hear our voice. The Jews in the Gospel were seeking to stone Jesus because their desire was not for the truth, they were blinded, rather, by disbelief. But, those who see the signs Jesus performs see God working through him. Their desire was for the Lord standing in their midst. In these days of isolation, when we are being socially and sacramentally distant, may our desire be all the more for the Lord, and let us pray as the psalmist, full of love and desire, saying, “I love you, O Lord, my strength…my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.”

Given during the COVID-19 pandemic.