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Thursday, June 5, 1997

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St. Boniface


Tobit 6:11; 7:1, 9-14; 8:4-7
Psalm 128
Mark 12:28-34

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you'd think we'd pray

"I have given her in marriage to seven men, all of whom were kinsmen of ours, and all died on the very night they approached her." —Tobit 7:11

If you were marrying someone whose previous husbands all died on their wedding nights, what would you do? You'd think you'd pray, but obviously none of the dead husbands thought of that.

You'd think we'd pray at the time of death. However, this is an unprecedented time of death, when millions of babies are aborted surgically and chemically each year in our country alone. Yet how many Christians are praying that much?

You'd think we'd pray in time of war. But aren't we in the ultimate war between Christ and the anti- Christ, between the gospel of life and the "culture of death"?

You'd think we'd pray when times got hard and the going got tough. How hard does life have to be for us to pray? Isn't it hard enough?

You'd think we'd pray when Jesus, God Himself, commanded us to pray always (Lk 18:1). As we prepare for the third millennium of Christianity, we focus this year on Jesus. Let's obey Him and pray accordingly.

You'd think we'd pray, knowing we could go to heaven or go to hell, to Jesus or Satan. But...

Prayer:  Lord, teach me to pray (Lk 11:1) always.

Promise:  "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength....You shall love your neighbor as yourself." —Mk 12:29-31

Praise:  St. Boniface had a deep longing to preach the gospel in a foreign land. He had to wait until he was forty years old, but he then made thousands of converts in France and Germany.

Reference:  (For related teaching, order our booklet, Praying For A New Pentecost, and our leaflet, Ten Commandments of Intercession.)

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, November 12, 1996


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 10, 1996