THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Tuesday of the first week of Lent, 2023

Isa 55:10-11

Ps 34

Matt 6:7-15

Our Father

Dear friends in Christ, our biological fathers, are a constant reminder, that we have a common father who is in heaven. The sacrament of Baptism particularly, brings us into a special relationship, as adopted children of God, in Christ. Whatever the color or race, whatever the language or creed, God is for us all. The coming of Jesus into the world, is effectively the coming of the kingdom of God, into our midst. We are called then to be participants in this kingdom, by the manner of our lives. 

Our Gospel reading today is from Matthew 6:7-15. The passage is both an instruction and a prayer. In it, Jesus asks us, never to waste time by thinking, that by heaping up praises, we can move God to answer. “In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Jesus told them this because “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” It might look funny then, that sometimes people get up to pray, and they search for as many names as possible for Jesus, to move him, before mentioning any need at all. Jesus then gave a format of prayer; sometimes a lack of faith makes people depart completely from this format, only to ask for the death and destruction of their enemies.

“Our Father, who art in heaven,” calls us to look unto God with faith, as our common Father, and to look up to heaven as our true home where our Father dwells. “Hallowed be thy name,” is a prayer that we have the necessary grace to keep God’s name holy, thereby fulfilling the first and second commandments. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” invites us to accept Jesus in our lives as the one who makes present the kingdom of God in the world; by that, we can live by his teaching and do the will of God here on earth, as we look to the eternal kingdom of heaven as our true home. “Give us this day our daily bread,” is both a prayer and an instruction to trust in divine providence, to seek our daily bread and needs with consideration for others. Man does not live by bread alone but by the words of God. “And forgive us our trespasses,” This is an invitation to trust in the mercy of God, who forgives, but it is also a clear acknowledgment of our human weakness which calls us to do everything possible to avoid falling. This comes with a condition, “As we forgive those who trespass against us” Jesus did not ask us to pray for the death of our enemies, instead he asks us to love them. You can only hope to be forgiven if you are ready and truly makes effort to forgive. One who does not forgive, therefore, wastes his time hoping he will be forgiven. “And lead us not into temptation,” We face temptations daily from every angle, and not falling at all, requires the grace of God. If we happen to fall, God’s compassion envelopes us with his mercy. “But deliver us from evil,” Even if we walk in the valley of darkness, even if there are enemies planning evil, God is our light and he keeps us safe. We must ask for that grace daily. 

Let us pray: Lord, teach us to pray and when we pray answer us. Amen. 

+Remain blessed!