Friends,
the Gospel for today is of great significance, for in it the Son of God
teaches us to pray. We hear from not just a guru, a spiritual teacher,
or a religious genius, but from the very Son of God. This is why the Our
Father, the Lord’s Prayer, is the model of all prayer.
The
Lord’s Prayer is the prayer for the Christian journey which has been
offered up consistently for the past two
thousand years. Think for a moment how this prayer links us to all of
the great figures in Christian history, from Peter and Paul to
Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, John Henry Newman, G.K.
Chesterton, John Paul II, and right up to the present day.
Keep
in mind that prayer is not designed so much to change God’s mind or to
tell God something he doesn’t know. God isn’t like a big city boss or a
reluctant pasha whom we have to persuade. Rather, he is the one who
wants nothing other than to give us good things—though they might not
always be the things we
want.
Reflect: Pray the Lord’s Prayer
slowly. What word or phrase stands out? Meditate on that word or phrase
as an additional prayer.
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 225
Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Jesus said to his disciples:
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This is how you are to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
"If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
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