Reading 1
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?”
Gospel
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.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
SUBJECT INTRODUCTION
RIGHT PETITION WHEN IN PRAYER
Many Christians do not how to pray, therefore their prayers were not answered as St. James said: “You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly.”
Today’s Readings reminded peole that one should not be selfish, worried and prayed for oneself; but paid attention to God and everyone’s needs. In Reading I, Jonah was angry with God because He did not destroy the people of Nineveh and made the a gourd plant that gave him a shade wither, so he asked God to take his life. In Gospel, Jesus taught his disciples the right way in prayer.They had to pay first attention to how God’s name was well known by everyone and His kingdom fast came. Afterwards, personal needs were to pray for.
READING DEVELOPMENT
1/ Reading I: Jonah was angry with God, others and living creatures.
1.1/ Jonah was angry with God because He did not destroy the people of Nineveh: He was upset and filled with anger. He prayed to God and said: “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!”
(1) Jonah was angry with the people of Nineveh: He thought he had reasonable anger, because God refused to be on his side to destroy enemy. Jesus raised a question for his thought: “Have you reason to be angry?” With some consideration, Jonah was angry selfishly, unreasonably and blindly.
– Selfishness: He had to understand that both were God’s children. He could not love these ones by punishing those others.
– Without cause: God sent how many prophets to advise his people to leave the immoral way, convert to God. They refused to listen, but insulted the prophets! Even Jonah disobeyed God, refused to proclaim the first time. On the contrary, He sent him only, and he reluctantly proclaim to the Pagans of Nineveh once; all of them listened, believed and whole-heartedly repented. Why did Jonah want Him to destroy them? Did Jonah want God turn into an unfair God, or a magazine to use?
– Blindness: He asked God to take his life! Jonah’s life was as precious as everyone’s. If God took his life away, the person who was damaged was him, not God.
(2) Jonah was angry by reason of the withered gourd plant. Afterward, 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.”
1.2/ The reason for God’s love for the people of Nineveh: In order to broaden Jonah’s mind, God asked him to make a comparison: “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.” Jonah loved the plant more than human life, a plant with which he had no connection. He loved it because under its shape, he escaped from the severe heat of summer.
God wanted Jonah to recognize his selfishness and irrationality: There were over 120,000 children of God in Nineveh and a large amount of animals created by God. Many of them could not make any difference between right and wrong, that meant they did not know what to do. For all that Jonah wanted God to destroy them all!
2/ Gospel: Pray according to God’s will.
2.1/ Not everyone know how to pray: According to Jewish tradition, Rabbies often taught disciples a simple prayer so that they could use for daily prayer. John the baptism also applied such to his disciples. And today, one of Jesus’s disciples came and said to him: “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” The reason for teaching is that the disciples did not know how to pray justly: asked for everything, even what is harmful to others or selfishly asked for oneself . . .
2.2/ Jesus taught his disciples how to pray: He said to them: “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”
Observing Jesus’s teachings, we recognized His principles as follows:
(1) All what connected to God: At first, prayer was offered to God the Father, not anyone else; He always loves and cares about his children’s needs. All of what belong to God had to be interested in before people’s needs. Asking for Your holy name was hallowed, not ours, Your Kingdom come, not oneself: Praying but recognizing children’s duties as well. Have your name hallowed and your kingdom come with work and one’s lifestyle; so that everyone could see and praise the Father in Heaven.
(2) All what connected to people: including past, present and future:
– At present: Give us each day our daily bread, not bread for life, bread for our souls and flesh.
– In the past: Forgive us for our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us. A man could not ask God to destroy or spell disaster for enemy, but ask God to help them recognize their sins and getting grace of conversion.
– In the future: Do not subject us to the final test. People can not avoid temptation; but need strength to overcome temptations.
APPLYING IN LIFE
– We must not oblige God to do our will; but try do do his will, because our will many times are very short-sighted, selfish and blind.
– We need to confirm that everyone are God’s children whether they know or not. Our duty is to co-operate with God in Gospel proclamation to everyone.
OTHER READINGS
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