Praying to Our Father

Scripture Reflections for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C, Lectionary 111


Praying is meant to bring us closer to God. We are to open ourselves in order to hear and receive God. Jesus teaches us that our Father is always accessible to us with caring ears. No matter our pleas or worries we are to bring them to God. In doing so we strengthen our relationship and bond with God.

Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: AbrahamAppreciateBaptismCircumcisionCommunicationCompassionExodusFaithForgiveJourneyJusticeKingdomLearnMannaMercyNeighborOur FatherPersistencePersistentPrayerRelationshipTemptationTrust

Genesis 18:20-32

“We have seen the cross. We have seen how far God can go and how low he will stoop to save us.”


Fr. Emmanuel Ochigbo (July 21, 2025)
New
Psalm 138:1-3, 6-8
Colossians 2:12-14
Catholic Productions

“He sees baptism as a death and a resurrection. He sees baptism as a transition from one sphere of reality into another sphere of reality, from the 'Old Creation' into the 'New Creation.' And he's going to make this clear as you go through the letter of the Colossians.”


Brant Pitre in "Jewish Circumcision and Infant Baptism" (August 17, 2022)
Luke 11:1-13

“Or another way we might look at it, in the ordinary the extraordinary was present. The same way in our own lives, ordinary as they might seem, just like with Christ, so much grace is in our routines.”


Angelo Kurbanali in "Questioning our Christian foundation" (July 24, 2025)
New
Holy Name of Jesus Church & Loyola Ministry

“We struggle to trust and so we hoard, we take more than our omer. And we also out of fear, out of fear of not having enough resources for tomorrow, we don't act boldly today. And the Lord says, 'when are you going to trust me?'”


Fr. Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ (July 23, 2022)
Catholic Women Preach

“And so my prayer for all of us is that as we enter into the dynamics of the Lord's Prayer, that we can be consoled, that we can trust in God's plan, and that we can be bread for one another and lean on our neighbors when we need the sustenance to carry us forward to bring about the reign of God”


Brenna Davis (July 24, 2022)
Catholic Productions

“It's precisely in the midst of trials that we are often tempted to fall away or to commit a sin”


Brant Pitre in "Lead Us Not into Temptation" (July 22, 2019)
Heart to Heart Catholic Media Ministry

“Prayer is not about twisting God’s will to make it our own. It’s really about right ordering our lives so we get on the same page as God.”


Fr. Michael Sparough in "The Lord's Prayer" (October 13, 2018)
Overall Readings

“On the one hand, God is 'kadosh', holy and totally other. And yet, on the other hand, God chooses to reveal himself to us as 'abba'”


Fr. Geoffrey Plant in "Teach us to pray" (July 20, 2025)
New
Catholic Women Preach

“Our readings today demonstrate how prayer has the power to change us and align us with God's vision of loving service, compassion, forgiveness, and justice”


Sr. Theresa Hafner, CSJ (July 27, 2025)
New
U.S. Catholic magazine

“There are many ways to pray but there is nothing special we really need to do to pray. Praying is about listening and giving up control to God. God is always waiting for us to come to him. All we need to do then is show up and show up consistently.”


Kate Oxsen (July 15, 2022)
Catholic Women Preach

“God, being God, knows us through and through but often we do not know ourselves enough to enter into an intimate kind of relationship. Relationship goes beyond knowing only about the other, it means I allow myself to be known by the other.”


Sr. Judette Gallares, RC (July 22, 2019)

“God created us to have a special relationship with him. The well-being of our relationship with God depends to a large extent on the quality of our communication with God. Prayer is the communication between human beings and God.”


Fr. Emmanuel Ochigbo (July 18, 2022)