Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, July 27, 2025

The Lord’s Prayer is a dialogue that is both humble and bold. We address God as our Father: our loving, caring, concerned father. What father would not want to hear from his son or daughter? My heart brightens every time I see that my son is calling me. I love hearing his voice. God our Father loves hearing our voices. As we pray, we develop a loving relationship with Him. We get to know Him and we allow Him to know us. This is particularly true when we approach Him with humility and gratitude and without a long list of wants and needs.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we immediately recognize that prayer is not about us, it is about God. We begin our prayer by humbly revering His name, praying for His Kingdom and inviting Him to do His will. It’s about God first. Then, we get a bit bold by requesting that he sustain us with our “daily bread.” We recognize that we are like little children who are totally dependent upon their parents every day of their young lives. This prayer reminds us of our daily dependence on God.

The prayer then turns to how our relationship with God helps us in our relationships with others. As He forgives us, it’s only fair that we forgive others. We humbly seek forgiveness only to the extent that we model forgiving behavior. We ask that we not be tested, presumably because we know that we could never pass even the simplest test. Finally, we recognize that we will fall victim to the power of evil unless God physically delivers us from that terrible fate.

Every relationship needs many touch points to grow deep and strong. Human relationships are nurtured through being together whether in thoughts, words, or in physical presence. We accomplish this through social media, texts, phone calls, and getting together in person. In our relationship with God, we accomplish this through prayer in its many forms. That’s why it’s so important to pray. How can we possibly have a relationship with God if we don’t ever reach out to him? The Gospels mention that Jesus took time to pray often. Jesus IS God, yet he still needed to stay close to the Father through prayer. We should visit with our Father often!

Fr. Mike