"Hatagi kami adlaw-adlaw sang kalan-on nga amon kinahanglanon"

Ebanghelyo subong nga Adlaw (Lucas 11:1-13)

Isa sadto ka tion si Jesus nagapangamuyo sa isa ka duog. Sang pagkatapos niya, ang isa sang iya mga gintuton-an nagsiling sa iya, “Ginoo, tudloi kami sa pagpangamuyo, subong nga si Juan nagtudlo man sang iya mga gintuton-an.”

Si Jesus nagsiling sa ila, “Magpangamuyo kamo sing subong sini: ‘Amay, Kabay nga magkari ang imo Ginharian.

Hatagi kami adlaw-adlaw sang kalan-on Nga amon kinahanglanon.

Patawara kami sang amon mga sala, Kay ginapatawad man namon Ang tanan nga nakasala sa amon. Indi kami pag-ipadaog sa mga pagsulay.’ ”

Kag si Jesus nagsiling sa iya mga gintuton-an, “Abi may isa sa inyo nga magkadto sa balay sang iya amigo sa tungang gab-i kag magsiling sa iya, ‘Abyan, pahulama ako sing tatlo ka bilog nga tinapay, kay may amigo ako nga nagapanglakaton nga nag-abot sa balay kag wala gid ako sing ipakaon sa iya.’

Kag abi, ang imo amigo magsabat didto sa sulod sang iya balay, ‘Indi ako pagtublaga! Nakapanirado na kami, nagahigda na ako kag ang akon kabataan, mabudlay na ang magbangon sa paghatag sa imo sing bisan ano.’

Ti, ano karon? Nagasiling ako sa inyo, bisan nga indi sia magbangon sa paghatag sa imo sing tinapay tungod sang inyo pag-abyanay, pero tungod sang imo pagpamilit nga wala gid huyahoya magabangon sia kag magahatag sa imo sang imo kinahanglanon.

Gani nagasiling ako sa inyo: Pangayo kamo, kag kamo magabaton, pangita kamo kag kamo makakita, panuktok kamo kag ang puwertahan pagabuksan sa inyo.

Kay ang tagsatagsa nga nagapangayo magabaton, kag ang nagapangita makakita, kag ang puwertahan pagabuksan sa iya nga nagapanuktok.

Kamo nga mga amay, may isa bala sa inyo nga magahatag sa iya bata sing man-og kon ang iya ginapangayo isda?

Hatagan mo bala sia sing iwiiwi kon ang iya ginapangayo itlog?

Kon kamo nga mga malaut makahibalo maghatag sing maayo nga butang sa inyo mga kabataan, daw ano pa gid ang inyo Amay nga langitnon. Magahatag sia sang Espiritu Santo sa mga nagapangayo sa iya.”

Prayer:

"Heaven Father, you are merciful, gracious and kind. May we never doubt your love nor hesitate to seek you with confidence in order to obtain the gifts, graces, and daily provision we need to live as your beloved sons and daughters and disciples of Jesus Christ our Savior."

***

Reflections of the Daily Gospel:

Do you pray with joy and confidence? The Jews were noted for their devotion to prayer. Formal prayer was prescribed for three set times a day. And the rabbis had a prayer for every occasion. It was also a custom for rabbis to teach their disciples a simple prayer they might use on a regular basis. Jesus' disciples ask him for such a prayer. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray he gave them the disciple's prayer, what we call the Our Father or Lord's Prayer. What does Jesus' prayer tell us about God and about ourselves? First, it tells us that God is both Father in being the Creator and Author of all that he has made, the first origin of everything and transcendent authority, and he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only begotten Son who, reciprocally is Son only in relation to his Father (Matthew 11:27). All fatherhood and motherhood is derived from him (Ephesians 3:14-15). In the Lord Jesus Christ we are spiritually reborn and made new, and we become the adopted children of God (John 1:12-13; 3:3).

Jesus teaches us to address God as "our Father" and to confidently ask him for the things we need to live as his sons and daughters. We can approach God our Father with confidence and boldness because Jesus Christ has opened the way to heaven for us through his death and resurrection. When we ask God for help, he fortunately does not give us what we deserve. Instead, he responds with grace and mercy. He is kind and forgiving towards us and he expects us to treat our neighbor the same. We can pray with expectant faith because our heavenly Father loves us and treats us as his children. He delights to give us what is good. His love and grace transforms us and makes us like himself. Through his grace and power we can love and serve one another as Jesus taught – with grace, mercy, and loving-kindness. Do you treat others as they deserve, or do you treat them as the Lord would with grace and mercy? Jesus' prayer includes an injunction that we must ask God to forgive us in proportion as we forgive those who have wronged us. Are you ready to forgive as Jesus forgives?

Parable of the late night guest

What can we expect from God, especially when we recognize that he doesn't owe us anything and that we don't deserve his grace and favor? Jesus used an illustration from the hospitality customs of his time to show how God is always ready to treat us with the best he has to offer. The rule of hospitality in biblical times required that every guest, whether stranger or friend, be warmly welcomed, refreshed (which often involved the washing of feet), and fed with the best food and drink available. It didn't matter what time of the day or night the guests might show up, it was your duty to stop what you were doing so you could give the guests the best care and shelter you could provide. If there wasn't adequate sleeping accommodation for both your guests and your family, the family slept outside under the stars. When guests showed up in a village, the whole community could be prevailed upon to provide whatever was needed.

Jesus' parable of the importunate and bothersome neighbor shows a worst case scenario of what might happen when an unexpected guest shows up in the middle of the night! The family awakens, unbolts the locked door to receive the guest, then washes the guest's feet, and the wife begins to prepare a meal. When the wife discovers that she has no bread to set before the guest, she prevails on her husband to go and get bread from a nearby family, who by now is also asleep with their door bolted shut. In a small village it would be easy for the wife to know who had baked bread that day. Bread was essential for a meal because it served as a utensil for dipping and eating from the common dishes. Asking for bread from one's neighbor was both a common occurrence and an expected favor. To refuse to give bread would bring shame because it was a sign of in hospitality.

God's generosity towards us

If a neighbor can be imposed upon and coerced into giving bread in the middle of the night, will not God, our heavenly Father and provider, also treat us with kind and generous care no matter how troubling or inconvenient the circumstances might appear? Jesus states emphatically, How much more will the heavenly Father give! St. Augustine of Hippo (340-425 AD) reminds us that "God, who does not sleep and who awakens us from sleep that we may ask, gives much more graciously." The Lord Jesus assures us that we can bring our needs to our heavenly Father who is always ready to give not only what we need, but more than we can ask. God gives the best he has. He freely pours out the blessing of his Holy Spirit upon us so that we may be filled with the abundance of his provision. Do you approach your heavenly Father with confidence in his mercy and kindness towards you?