Jonah 4:1-11
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “I pray thee, LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.6 And the LORD God appointed a plant, and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm which attacked the plant, so that it withered.
8 When the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he was faint; and he asked that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”
10 And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night.11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Luke 11:1-4
1 He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread;
4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.”
MEDITATION
THE FIRST READING: It appears that the positive response of the Ninevites to obey and please God was one too much for Jonah such that he had a hissy fit.He abandoned his mission and went in hiding hoping that God would bring his life to an end!
Although Jonah knew that God was “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” he seemed to lack these virtues which led to his state of self-immolation. Jonah is in fact irritated by God’s benevolence, such that he reject God’s outreach to him. Whilst he was successful in bringing the people to repentance, it appears that he had not fully come to terms to graciously accept God’s forgiveness and mercy.
THE GOSPEL READING: One of Jesus’ disciples came to realize that their understanding of God’s love and mercy is deficient to the extent that their prayers and supplications are not correctly ordered. This self examination led the unknown disciple to request that Jesus teach them how to pray.
Cate 2764 The Sermon on the Mount is teaching for life, the Our Father is a prayer; but in both the one and the other the Spirit of the Lord gives new form to our desires, those inner movements that animate our lives. Jesus teaches us this new life by his words; he teaches us to ask for it by our prayer. The rightness of our life in him will depend on the rightness of our prayer.
The Lords prayer consist in our hallowing God’s name; Our eager awaiting that He enter into our lives; Our hunger to receive His bread of life in the Eucharist; Our desire to have our sins forgiven in the confessional; Our need to forgive the sins of those whom we have injured and our need for Jesus’ protection that we shall resist and avoid the temptation to commit acts of sin.
The video link below is an incisive teaching and exposition of Our Lords Prayer that you may find of interest.
LET US PRAY: Psalms 86:3-6,9-10
3 be gracious to me, O Lord, for to thee do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For thou, O Lord, art good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on thee.
6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; hearken to my cry of supplication.
9 All the nations thou hast made shall come and bow down before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name.
10 For thou art great and doest wondrous things, thou alone art God.
Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days
Morning Coffee Meditations. 
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