In this assembly where dynamism and creativity are
so evident, where discernment is leading to brave initiatives
and projects full of optimism, the Lord gently reminds us that
we need Him, too. I am sure that this meeting at Itaici, with
its sharing and communication, is already a prayer of thanksgiving
for everything that CLC has been able to accomplish almost everywhere,
for the greater glory of God. It is a prayer of praise as well,
to Him who is always at the heart of CLC mission, for it is Christ
who sends you out to others, and the Spirit who ceaselessly fills
CLC with his breath and his fire, who inspires and unites you
for the glory of the Father, our Father.
In today's Gospel, Jesus' call to pray rings out
among us, inviting us not to forget that to pray is also to ask,
is only to ask. The Lord's prayer, which he taught us, is only
a list of five, six, seven petitions, among which is the coming
of the kingdom and our daily bread. This 'Our Father' seems terribly
self-seeking, while an alleluia sung with all my heart seems so
disinterested and unselfish. It is true, we have our pride. Asking
is never easy, and sometimes we prefer to give presents, for that
is a joy. Receiving, thanking or even depending on another, costs
us, and may even humiliate us. Jesus knows this from experience.
This is where his insistence stems from, that we are to pray as
children in Him, the Son, to his Father, our Father.
It is not as a slave beseeching his master; it is
not even as a poor relative asking in shame for help from a rich
member of the family; it is definitely not as a beggar holding
out his hand to a benefactor. As Jesus himself lives in everything
as Son of the Father, he urges us to ask from the source of all
life and every good thing as a son or daughter asks in trust which
thus grows, and in love which unites, because asking strengthens
the union between the Father and his sons and daughters.
To convince us of this, Jesus refers us back to our
daily experience. If a child asks for an egg or a fish, what parent
would dare give him a snake or a scorpion? No parent would risk
death - snake and scorpion - for the child who asks for life,
life in food which is given every day. So our Father who is good
will not refuse us the energy of life and love that we need from
above. Ask, then, but not grudgingly, as someone without a real
choice asks, because they must. Asking is not humbling myself;
it is assuming joyfully and thankfully the reality, the truth
that everything comes from the Father with love, from a Father's
love.
But as always in the Gospel, Jesus goes further,
takes an extra step. After the parable of the father, there is
also that of the friend. Imagine the scene Jesus is talking about.
During the night, all the members of the large family are sleeping
on the ground, taking up all the available space. When the neighbour
comes to ask for some bread, His friend is uncomfortable: it is
impossible to reach the door without disturbing the whole family.
But he cannot refuse the request either, and he gives some bread.
Through this family scene taken from life, Jesus is telling us
that God does not react to our petitions only as a good father,
but also as a friend, who shares wholeheartedly the cares and
needs of his friends. In this way the son's prayer of petition
becomes the prayer of a friend to the One whom many liturgies
call the 'Friend of men and women'.
So it is by presenting our petitions in our CLC prayer that we become truly daughters and sons of Jesus' Father, our Father, and live authentically as friends in the Lord. Let us pray to the One who is the source, the strength and the fervour of CLC, that, thanks to our prayer of petition here at Itaici, united with all the CLCs in the world, we may accomplish the work that God has begun, according to the desires of Christ made known to us by the Spirit.