Tony Worner, Leader of Formation at St Agnes’ Catholic Parish, joins us again to present today’s Gospel Reflection while Fr Paul is on leave and reads from the Gospel of Luke (11: 1-4) in which Jesus teaches his disciples to pray. Reflecting on this Gospel, Tony says, Ron Rolheiser, a Catholic priest and a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, is known as a community-builder, lecturer, and writer, and is one of his favourite theologians because of his simplicity in getting a message across.

He relates the following from an elderly Augustinian priest: No matter what my day is like, no matter what’s on my mind, no matter what my distractions and temptations are, I am faithful to this: Once a day I pray the Our Father as best I can from where I am at that moment. Inside of everything that’s going on inside me and around me that day, I pray the Our Father, asking God to hear me from inside of all the distractions, all temptations, that are besetting me. It’s the best I can do. Maybe it’s a bare minimum and I should do more and should try to concentrate harder, but at least I do that. And sometimes it’s all I can do, but I do it every day, as best I can. It’s the prayer Jesus told us to pray.

And so, in closing Tony says, let us pray: Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.