Wednesday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time

We pray through Wednesday of the eleventh week in ordinary time, offering our whole day to God and then listening to Saint Cyprian unpack the Lord’s Prayer. We linger on “Your kingdom come” and “Your will be done,” asking for Christ’s reign in us and for the grace to obey when we feel weak. 
• offering prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with the Mass 
• Saint Cyprian’s meaning of “Your kingdom come” as the promised kingdom and as Christ himself 
• longing to reign under Christ after renouncing the world 
• praying “Your will be done” as God’s will carried out in us 
• naming obstacles to obedience and asking for God’s help and protection 
• Christ’s example of surrender in suffering and the virtues that flow from God’s will 
If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org. 

Transcript

Opening Prayer And Offering

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Wednesday, in the eleventh week of ordinary time. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the remission of my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.

Saint Cyprian On God’s Kingdom

SPEAKER_00 0:47

From a treatise on the Lord's Prayer by Saint Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr. The prayer continues, your kingdom come. We pray that God's kingdom will become present for us in the same way that we ask for his name to be hallowed among us. For when does God not reign? When could there be in him a beginning of what always was and what will never cease to be? What we pray for is that the kingdom promised to us by God will come, the kingdom won by Christ's blood and passion. Then we who formerly were slaves in this world will reign from now on under the dominion of Christ, in accordance with his promise. Come, O blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. However, my dear friends, it could also be that the kingdom of God whose coming we daily wish for is Christ Himself, since it is His coming that we long for. He is our resurrection, since we rise again in Him, so too He can be thought of as the kingdom of God, because we are to reign in Him. And it is good that we pray for God's kingdom, for though it is a heavenly kingdom, it is also an earthly one, but those who have already renounced the world are made greater by holding positions of authority in that kingdom.

Your Will Be Done In Us

SPEAKER_00 2:10

After this we add, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray not that God should do his will, but that we may carry out his will. How could anyone prevent the Lord from doing what he wills, but in our prayer we ask that God's will be done in us? Because the devil throws up obstacles to prevent our mind and our conduct from obeying God in all things. So, if his will is to be done in us, we have need of his will, that is, his help and protection. No one can be strong by his own strength or secure, save by God's mercy and forgiveness. Even the Lord, to show the weakness of the human nature which he bore, said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. And then, by way of giving example to his disciples, that they should do God's will and not their own, he added, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. All Christ did, all he taught was the will of God, humility in our daily lives, and unwavering faith, a moral sense of modesty in conversation, justice in acts, mercy in deed, discipline, refusal to harm others, a readiness to suffer harm, peaceableness with our brothers, a wholehearted love of God, loving in him what is of the Father, fearing him because he is God, preferring nothing to him who preferred nothing to us, clinging tenaciously to his love, standing by his cross with loyalty and courage, whenever there is any conflict involving his honor and his name, manifesting in our speech the constancy of our profession, and under torture, confidence for the fight, and in dying the endurance for which we will be crowned. This is what it means to wish to be a co-heir with Christ, to keep God's command. This is what it means to do the will of the Father. If you do the will of my Heavenly Father, you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and my sister and my mother. You will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Closing Prayers And Invitation

SPEAKER_00 4:22

O God, strength of those who have hope in you, graciously hear our pleas. And since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen. All that I have and all that I am, I give to your hands, Jesus, through the heart of Mary, your blessed mother. Amen. Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org.