Readings:
Isaiah 55: 10-11
Matthew 6: 7-15
Reflection:
Isaiah highlights the fruitfulness of God’s word. It does what it is sent to do. This is amazing! Do we really believe it to be true?
In the Gospel today, we are given an insight into the mind of Jesus when he is teaching his disciples to pray. He discourages them from using many words and just babbling! He goes on to teach them how to pray and uses words that have come to us through the generations, the ‘Our Father’! It has become a template for prayer, beginning with a focus on God, who God is, and the coming of the kingdom. It is only in the second part that we have a focus on our needs. There are volumes written about the ‘Our Father’, but maybe today, when you pray this prayer, think about all those who come into the word ‘Our’. I am praying not just for my needs but I am standing in solidarity with all whom my heart includes in the ‘OUR’ and hopefully, as my heart expands and my relationship with God grows there will be more and more people included in the ‘OUR’! We are always being challenged to extend the tent of our minds and hearts to be as inclusive as Jesus .
A Lenten invitation to open my heart and trust the word of God, which is succeeding in what it is sent to do. Let us go with the flow of God’s love and become channels of love through expanding the ‘OUR’.
Sr. Brigid Murphy CP, Sisters of the Cross & Passion, Melbourne