Hebrews 10:1-10 / Mark 3:31-35
Sometimes religion can be thought of as some kind of barter trade between the deity and the devotee.
Religious rituals and sacrifices are performed in order to gain some kind of favours from the deity.
So someone may have gained a sum of ill-gotten money and to offset the guilt, he makes a donation to a religious institution in order to ease his conscience.
Or he may perform some religious rituals in order to ask for favours and to be granted what he desires.
Yet, we read in 1 Samuel 15:22 that the prophet Samuel told king Saul this, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."
So what God is asking of us, over and above everything else, is our obedience to Him. With that, our religious rituals and sacrifices will fall into place and find their meaning in our faith.
And this is reiterated in the 1st reading when it said that God wanted no sacrifice or oblation or holocaust but that we do His will.
And in the gospel, Jesus would tell His disciples that whoever does the will of God is His brother and sister and mother.
So as we pray to God for our needs and intentions, let us also remember that God's will must also be done.
Obedience to God's will will give us peace of heart and mind. And that is what we really want.