From time to time we take stock of our relationships with people who are important to us, especially after we have collaborated with them with all our being, mind and heart, in working for a common course. In yesterday's first reading, we heard that Jonah had just converted Nineveh. Today we hear of Jonah's displeasure and anger towards God because God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. In fact, Jonah's merciful and gracious (and humorous) God had granted Jonah what he had not asked for: physical protection. But Jonah did not pray for God's mercy and graciousness for the Nineveh converts and for himself. Above all, he did not ask God for the grace of a forgiving heart.

Jesus gave his disciples a prayer to relate them to God the Father. So the Lord's Prayer is our prayer. In it Jesus teaches us how to praise God, what physical needs we should ask for, and that we must pray for God's grace to have a forgiving heart.