Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Massimo Palombella
In today’s Gospel (Lk 11:1-13) Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them to pray. The question of Jesus’ disciples should also be ours because, curiously enough, actually learning how to pray means starting a healthy process that leads us more and more to live in reality. In fact, asking the Lord that his kingdom be realised in my life, that his will become the only criterion for my decision-making, committing myself to forgive and thus to have true and real relationships, all this is nothing other than facing reality, learning to discern the things I have to change and those I have to accept, exercising myself in autonomous ‘discernment’ by renouncing the ease of someone else telling me what to do in order to truly seek the Lord and the truth of my life. In essence, learning to pray means moving from being a child to being a healthy adult, taking responsibility, making the necessary separations, learning to know one’s own weaknesses. Learning to pray is to make a slow transition from a “god” invented to make us feel good, to have timely answers and to whom we burn a little incense to make sure everything goes well, to a real God to be searched for, with whom we can interact as adults, to whom we can entrust our lives, our concerns, to whom we “hand over” everything within a vital relationship of trust.
The Gradual of today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 27 (Ps 27, 7 .1) with the following text:
In Deo speravit cor meum, et adiutus sum:
et refloruit caro mea:
et ex voluntate mea confitebor illi.
Ad te, Domine, clamavi:
Deus meus, ne sileas: ne discedas a me.
(In God has my heart placed its trust and I have been helped;
and my flesh has flowered anew,
and with all my desire I will give thanks unto him.
Unto you, O Lord, do I cry;
O my God, do not remain silent, depart not from me).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Gradual Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979.The music track can be found on YouTube where there are no indications of interpretation.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
