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Master·evangeli.net

Today's Gospel + short theological explanation

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
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Gospel text (Lk 11:27-28): While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The "itineraries" of prayer

EDITORIAL TEAM evangeli.net (based on texts by Benedict XVI) (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)

Today, Jesus shows us the "itineraries" of prayer. To be a man essentially means "relationship with God", and therefore, to talk to Him and to listen to Him. Our prayer can and should arise above all from our hearts, but we also constantly need the support of the vocal prayers received from pious tradition (particularly, the "Psalms").

Indeed, without these aids to prayer, our own prayer becomes subjective and ends up reflecting ourselves more than the living God. It is essential to hear and keep His Word! Normally, thought precedes the word (first we have an idea and then look for the word to express it). But liturgical prayer in general, is exactly the other way around: the Word, the voice, goes ahead of us, and our spirit has to adapt to it.

—O Lord, on our own, we, men, do not know how to pray as we ought to. But You have come to our aid by providing the words of our prayer so we can gradually come to know You and draw closer to You.