17C Sunday Homily, Luke 11:1-13, July 27, 2025
By Fr. Vincent
Corbelli, MM
1. STORY
A pastor saw John
come to church each day at noon. John
would stay for only a few minutes and then would leave. Wondering what he could do in such a short
time, the pastor asked John what he did. John told the pastor he would enter the church
and say, “Jesus, this is John.” He would
wait for a minute and leave knowing that Jesus heard him. John was hospitalized but was always happy. When asked why he was happy, he replied that
his friend visited him daily. Though
John had few visitors, he asked who his friend was. John replied that his friend visited him at
noon, would stand at the foot of his bed, and would say, “John, this is Jesus”
and would then leave. John knew that
praying was speaking with Jesus.
2. GOSPEL, Luke
11:1-13
A) In the Our
Father, Jesus teaches us to ask for our daily bread, which is necessary for our
body and teaches us to ask for forgiveness, which is necessary for our soul.
B) Jesus teaches,
in the story of a friend looking for help, that we must persevere in prayer.
3. APPLICATION TO
LIFE
A) We must pray
for the food that we need to live. We
must pray for the Eucharist which is the spiritual food that our soul needs. We receive forgiveness through the wonderful
sacrament of penance. It is necessary
for us to periodically go to confession.
B) We need help
each day and we must pray each day. When
you get up, say “Jesus, please help me and my family today.” At night say three Hail Mary’s: one for your
family, one for the sick, needy or deceased, and one for yourself.
4. CONCLUSION
Praying to Jesus
brings happiness into our lives. It takes only a few minutes to ask for God’s
help each day.
