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Theo Tigno•
2/27/2012 12:04 pm
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Tuesday in the First Week of Lent |
Matthew 6: 7-15
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."
Dawg's Thought:
Today's prayer intention - for those who are suffering with cancer.
Today's reflection comes from Blessed Pope John Paul II:
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By teaching us the "Our Father" Christ establishes the pattern for all prayer. He explains our relationship with God and with one another: God is our Creator. He is our Redeemer. With him as our common Father we are brothers and sisters to one another.
And so we say: "Our Father who art in heaven" ...
When Jesus prays he uses the Aramaic word "Abba", which is what small children would have called their fathers. Only Christ, the Eternal Son who is one in being with the Father, has the right to address with such familiarity, with such intimacy, the one whose throne is in the heavens. But we too have been given this privilege by our adoption as children of God in Baptism. We have become sons and daughters "in the Son" Jesus Christ.
This unimagined and undeserved gift of communion with God transforms every human relationship. We pray not to "my" father or to "your" father, bur to "our Father". Even when we "shut the door and pray... in secret", we are spiritually united with all our brothers and sisters in Christ and with every human person created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Prayer delivers us from selfishness, from isolation and loneliness. It opens us up to the mystery of communion with God and with others.
"Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" ...
In the modern world, scientific and technological developments have dispelled many of our fears, relieved so many of the burdens of our existence, and opened up new possibilities for human self-realization. But these developments can also lead to a great temptation like the one "in the beginning" in the Book of Genesis: the temptation to decide for ourselves what is good and evil without reference to the God who made us, the vain attempt to place ourselves and our wills, rather than God and his law, at the centre of the universe. But if we reject or ignore God "who is love", we reject love itself.
The first concern of the "Lord's Prayer" is that God's name should be glorified, that his Kingdom should come, that his will should be done. If that is our priority, then all else will be given us besides. Progress in science, economics, social organization and culture will not rob us of our humanity, but will reflect the love that alone gives life, meaning and joy to our human efforts. It is God who "gives us our daily bread", even as we remember that it is not by bread alone that we live, "but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God".
"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" ...
Christ's teaching is simple but sobering. He says, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses".
Dear brothers and sisters: is this not perhaps the most difficult petition of the "Lord's Prayer", precisely because what is asked of us is so clear and uncompromising? In praying these words we profess our trust in God's mercy, but we also commit ourselves to a life of forgiveness. So often we impose conditions on our forgiveness, or refuse to seek reconciliation if we have been wronged. Yet if God were to treat us like this, who could be saved? With good reason we deplore the hatred, revenge and hardness of heart that afflict society in so many parts of the world, but the "Lord's Prayer" challenges us to change the world by first being converted in our own hearts. Christ's way of forgiveness demands that we should love even our enemies and pray for our persecutors. Only then can we truly pray as Jesus taught us.
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" ...
This final petition in the "Our Father" helps us to understand divine Providence in the light of Christ's Death and Resurrection. It warns us of the existence of evil and calls to mind Christ's words: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell".
This does not mean that God is deaf to our prayers for deliverance from physical danger and evil, or that he is indifferent to the suffering and death caused by natural calamities, disease, famine and war. It is only natural that we should turn to our heavenly Father for protection from these evils which entered the world because of original sin. But at the same time we must have confidence in Christ's victory over suffering and death. When, despite our prayers and human efforts, we still suffer evil in this passing world, we must have faith that it can be overcome through the redeeming power of love. The greatest evil that can ultimately befall us is to be separated from God because of sin. That, above all, is what we mean when we pray that we may not be led into temptation but delivered from evil.
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Take care and God Bless.
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