“Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8)

So, Jesus asked His followers, “In your prayer do not rattle on like the pagans. They think they will win a hearing by the sheer of multiplication of words. Do not imitate them.” (Matthew 6:7)
How then should we pray?

From the Lord’s Prayer taught by Jesus, we learn that we have to give up our own private intentions, then we can be in union with God: have our thoughts focused on the heavenly kingdom, fulfilling the will of God, and be tolerant.

Each of us has received unique natural endowments from God. There is only one purpose of these endowments, which is to enable us to live in God’s love permanently.

Meanwhile, since our life is closely related to the other people, we should not be satisfied when only our personal desires are satisfied because all of us have the same heavenly Father.

Furthermore, our ‘daily bread’, besides our daily diet which maintains our physical health, also refers to the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus said, “Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no live in you. He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink. The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” (John 6:53-56)

Jesus has prepared everything for us. The door of the heavenly kingdom is wide open for us. It is for us to choose to enter.

Please listen to the parable of the feast:
“A man was giving a large dinner and he invited many. At dinner time he sent his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come along. Everything is ready now.’ But they began to excuse themselves, one and all. The first one said to the servant, ‘I have bought some land and must go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going out to test them. Please excuse me.’ A third said, ‘I am newly married and so I cannot come.’

The servant returning reported all these to his master. The master of the house grew angry at the account. He said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, after some time, ‘Your orders have been carried out, my lord, and there is still room.’ The master then said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedgerows and force them to come in. I want my house to be full, but I tell you that not one of those invited shall taste a morsel of my dinner.’” (Luke 14:16-24)