The Lord’s prayer should be prayed daily. It shouldn’t be recited without thinking about the words or their meaning, and its meaning is not something deep and hidden. If we adopt not just the words of the prayer but the attitudes it expresses, we give our Father the space He needs in our hearts to sanctify us. Central to this prayer is devotion to the Eucharist, that daily super-substantial bread that nourishes our spiritual life. By desiring to receive that bread daily, we daily desiring communion with Christ. We cannot be in communion with Christ if our lives are full of wickedness and sin, so the daily reception of communion is a safeguard for our conscience against sin. We should expect that as long as we are alive and praying this prayer, the sins we ask to be forgiven from are real. We will stop sinning when we die – and our neighbors will stop sinning against us when they die. In this life, communion with Christ, asking for and giving forgiveness, and praying for help against evil and temptation are the essential components of daily life and growth in holiness.
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
The natural inclination of the soul is to rise up towards God. That natural motion is hindered by all sorts of distractions, temptations, and sin. The external activity we engage in that does not produce the fruits of Charity prevents the soul from rising to God. The internal activity of anxiety, comparison with others, judgments and anger are like lead to the soul. For this reason, when Jesus teaches us about prayer He wants us to be alone and shut out everything else. It’s nice to pray in a church, but not always very solitary – even if you are alone, it is still a public place. Choosing a place where you are truly alone and solitary may in fact be preferable.
Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
One feature of the prophets was their condemnation of the abuse of the weak (cf. Is 5:8–24; Amos 2:6–16; etc.), just as it is part of the Church’s prophetic mission to stand up for human rights: “Respect for the human entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church’s role to remind men of good will of these rights, and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1930).