Today, 14th of December, we celebrate
Saint John of the Cross
First Reading: Jon 4:1-11
Jonah was greatly displeased
and became angry that God did not carry out the evil
he threatened against Nineveh.
He prayed, "I beseech you, LORD,
is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?
This is why I fled at first to Tarshish.
I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God,
slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish.
And now, LORD, please take my life from me;
for it is better for me to die than to live."
But the LORD asked, "Have you reason to be angry?"
Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it,
where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade,
to see what would happen to the city.
And when the LORD God provided a gourd plant
that grew up over Jonah's head,
giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort,
Jonah was very happy over the plant.
But the next morning at dawn
God sent a worm that attacked the plant,
so that it withered.
And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind;
and the sun beat upon Jonah's head till he became faint.
Then Jonah asked for death, saying,
"I would be better off dead than alive."
But God said to Jonah,
"Have you reason to be angry over the plant?"
"I have reason to be angry," Jonah answered, "angry enough to die."
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?"
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10
R./ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R./ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R./ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
you alone are God.
R./ Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
Gospel Reading: Lk 11:1-4
One day 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." And Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say this:
Father, hallowed be your name,
may your kingdom come,
give us each day the kind of bread we need,
and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who do us wrong,
and do not bring us to the test."
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
A short yet profound prayer. Jesus forbids his followers from using wordy babble (“poliloguía”) when they pray; He sees it as something pagans do (Mt 6:7)—those who do not know God but are still eager to manipulate Him if they can. The brilliant St. Augustine reminds us that prayer is not meant to inform God of our needs—He already knows them—nor to earn His goodwill, since He already loves us.
So then, why does Jesus teach us to pray? So that we may become more like Him—the One who often withdrew to pray, nurturing His loving relationship with the Father. And also so that we may come to share more deeply in Jesus’ own concerns. His message was the coming of the Kingdom of God: “The Kingdom is at hand. Believe the Good News” (Mk 1:15). He is that blessed messenger spoken of by Second Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Is 52:7). And He would like His disciples to help speed up that coming: “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33).
This Kingdom is a reality that Jesus never clearly defines. Instead, He points to it through metaphors, parables, and symbolic actions. Perhaps in the Our Father we find something close to a definition. The petition begins with the “hallowing of God’s name.” But this doesn’t mean whispering devout phrases when others curse, as we might have been taught as children. The verb is passive, meaning God Himself is the one acting. The background is found in Ezekiel 36:23: “I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations….” In that context, God’s action refers to rescuing and reuniting His scattered people and purifying them from pagan influences: “I will gather the Israelites from the nations where they have gone” (Ez 37:21). When this happens, God will truly reign, and His people will rejoice in Him. The Gospel of Matthew makes this even clearer by adding a further petition that sums everything up: “Your will be done.”
Another petition that seems different but is really the same in essence is the plea for forgiveness of offenses and sins. Yahweh had promised: “I will cleanse you from all your impurities” (Ez 36:33). Closely related to this is the image of the Good Shepherd who will not let His people go astray: “Do not let us fall into temptation,” that is, don’t let us mistake something else for Your Kingdom.
We’ve saved the request for bread for last—it’s the most puzzling and hardest to translate. In Luke’s version, there’s a certain tension: it combines “tomorrow” with “each day”—a one-time event with something ongoing. We believe this reflects a layering of Jesus’ original thought with the evangelist’s interpretation. For Luke, writing for a Church that would last through time, this petition is about trusting in God’s providence: that He will care for His children. But in Jesus’ own eschatological language, the “bread of tomorrow” may refer to the coming messianic age—once again asking, “Let your Kingdom come,” since in the Old Testament, the Kingdom is portrayed as a banquet “of rich food and aged wines” (Is 25:6).
When we pray the Our Father, we are called to step into a new era—the era of the Kingdom, of transforming forgiveness, of true brotherhood. And also into the security of being under the care of a Father who guides us and, in His providential love, gives us all we need.
Your brother,
Severiano Blanco, CMFOpening Prayer
God, you are tender and compassionate,
slow to anger, rich in graciousness,
and reluctant to punish.
You want all people to share in your love.
God, make our love as worldwide as yours.
Make us grateful for all you have given us
through your Son Jesus Christ,
that the zeal of a missionary Church
may gather everyone into your kingdom,
and that all may call you Father,
for ever and ever.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction
God is a saving God. He calls all people to salvation in Jesus Christ, and he does not discriminate or segregate. His kingdom is open to all people, all races, all cultures, all languages, and all walks of life. And those who are most in need are given preference. For he is the Father of all and cares for those for whom people do not care. Do we do enough to bring his Son to all? Do we open the Christian community to all, without any discrimination? Or is there a bit of Jonah alive in us?
Gospel Introduction
The disciples must have admired Jesus when he prayed, for when he had finished, they asked him to teach them to pray. This is indeed what we too should ask him in this eucharist, that our prayer may be wide and deep like his, giving honor to the Father and bringing to him the stream of the needs and concerns of all. And like him too, in our prayers we try not to bend God's will to ours, but ours to God's will and General Intercessions .
General Intercessions
- That the Church itself may be the first to practice God's example of forgiving her difficult and erring children, we pray:
- That missionaries may discover first what is good in the people to whom they are sent and their culture rather than condemning and faultfinding, we pray:
- That we may pray for people who do not yet know God and the One he has sent, Jesus Christ, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
accept this bread and this wine,
that your Son may renew among us
his saving death and resurrection for all.
And may the time come, we pray you,
that he may break his bread of life
and pour his wine of joy
for every person on earth,
that your name may be praised everywhere
for ever and ever.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
do not allow us to lie self-contented
in a patch of shade under her own little tree
to seek relief from disappointments.
Give us the courage to go out
on the roads where there are people
who seek you, even if they don't know it,
and be to them in our limited way
signs of your unifying love
and of the freedom and happiness
you have prepared for all
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
We call ourselves "Catholics," don't we? That is, people universal by definition. How concerned are we about other people and their lasting happiness? People, near or far, should be our concern. Keep them in mind, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
