Rogate 2019

The last words Martin Luther were, “We are all beggars.”  We are not givers; we are not the benefactors.  We are receivers; we are beneficiaries.  We need.  When we remember this, we naturally pray.  We realize that we are surrounded by so many and so great dangers, that we cannot free ourselves from evil, that we need what only God can give.  Our prayers falter and cease when we are hearers of the Word and not doers, looking at our natural faces in a mirror and forgetting what we are like, that we are beggars, thinking instead that we are givers.  So today Jesus reminds us to pray, to ask the Father in Jesus’ name.  That’s why this Sunday is named Rogate, from the Latin word that means to ask, request, or petition.  Jesus tells us to ask our Father in heaven for His good and gracious gifts, just as earthly children ask their earthly fathers.

Read More