Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Our first reading today from the Book of Sirach is a follow-up to the passages we have been hearing this week from the Second Book of Kings. It pays tribute to the life and accomplishments of the prophet Elijah and of his successor, Elisha. “Nothing was beyond his power; beneath him flesh was brought back into life. In life he performed wonders, and after death, marvelous deeds” (Sir 48:13-14). It is fitting that in the responsorial refrain we hear “Rejoice in the Lord, you just!” It was God who worked marvelous wonders through the hands of these prophets to “turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob” (Sir 48:10). Psalm 97 goes on to proclaim the Lord’s kingship over all creation: “The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice; … all gods are prostrate before him.”
We are called to place our confidence in that same almighty Lord in today’s Gospel from St. Matthew. Jesus teaches us to dare to address our prayer through the Spirit to the all-powerful God of Elijah and Elisha and to call him “Father,” the one “who knows what you need before you ask him.” He demonstrates how we are to ask for our daily sustenance, for forgiveness of our sins and for deliverance from temptation. We ask the Father to keep us in that Hallowed Name and to unite us with our brothers and sisters in the same way that Jesus is united with the Father—a unity which begins with our forgiveness of others who trespass against us.
Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections