GOSPEL READING:
Matthew 6:7-157 "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread; 12 And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; 13 And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Isaiah 55:10-1110 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,11 so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Meditation: Do you believe that God's word has power to
change and transform your life today? Isaiah says that God's word
is like the rain and melting snow which makes the barren ground
spring to life and become abundantly fertile (Isaiah 55:10-11).
God's word has power to penetrate our dry barren hearts and make
them springs of new life. If we let God's word take root in our
heart it will transform us into the likeness of God himself and
empower us to walk in his way of love and holiness.
Let God's word guide and shape the way you judge and act
God wants his word to guide and shape the way we think, act, and
pray. Ambrose (339-397 AD), an early
church father and bishop of Milan, wrote that the reason we should
devote time for reading Scripture is to hear Christ speak to us.
"Are you not occupied with Christ? Why do you not talk with him?
By reading the Scriptures, we listen to Christ."
We can approach God our Father with confidence
We can approach God confidently because he is waiting with arms
wide open to receive his prodigal sons and daughters. That is why
Jesus gave his disciples the perfect prayer that dares to call
God, Our Father. This prayer teaches us how to ask God for
the things we really need, the things that matter not only for the
present but for eternity as well. We can approach God our Father
with confidence and boldness because the Lord Jesus has opened the
way to heaven for us through his death and resurrection.
When we ask God for help, he fortunately does not give us what we
deserve. Instead, God responds with grace, mercy, and
loving-kindness. He is good and forgiving towards us, and he
expects us to treat our neighbor the same. God has poured his love
into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit who has been
given to us (Romans 5:5). And that love is like a refining fire -
it purifies and burns away all prejudice, hatred, resentment,
vengeance, and bitterness until there is nothing left but
goodness and forgiveness towards those who cause us grief or harm.
The Lord's Prayer teaches us how to pray
Consider what John Cassian (360-435 AD), an
early church father who lived for several years with the monks in
Bethlehem and Egypt before founding a monastery in southern Gaul,
wrote about the Lord's Prayer and the necessity of forgiving one
another from the heart:
"The mercy of God is beyond description. While he is offering us a model prayer he is teaching us a way of life whereby we can be pleasing in his sight. But that is not all. In this same prayer he gives us an easy method for attracting an indulgent and merciful judgment on our lives. He gives us the possibility of ourselves mitigating the sentence hanging over us and of compelling him to pardon us. What else could he do in the face of our generosity when we ask him to forgive us as we have forgiven our neighbor? If we are faithful in this prayer, each of us will ask forgiveness for our own failings after we have forgiven the sins of those who have sinned against us, not only those who have sinned against our Master. There is, in fact, in some of us a very bad habit. We treat our sins against God, however appalling, with gentle indulgence - but when by contrast it is a matter of sins against us ourselves, albeit very tiny ones, we exact reparation with ruthless severity. Anyone who has not forgiven from the bottom of the heart the brother or sister who has done him wrong will only obtain from this prayer his own condemnation, rather than any mercy."
Do you treat others as you think they deserve to be treated, or do
you treat them as the Lord has treated you - with mercy, steadfast
love, and kindness?
Father in heaven, you have given me a mind to know you, a will to serve you, and a heart to love you. Give me today the grace and strength to embrace your holy will and fill my heart with your love that all my intentions and actions may be pleasing to you. Give me the grace to be charitable in thought, kind in deed, and loving in speech towards all.
Psalm 111:1-2,4,7-8
1 Praise the LORD. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who have pleasure in them.
4 He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy,
8 they are established for ever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Blessed are they who recognize their Father! by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.
"Our Lord so frequently spoke to us of God as Father. He even taught us to call none on earth father, but only the one we have in heaven (Matthew 23:9). Therefore, when we pray to the Father, we are following this command. Blessed are they who recognize their Father! Remember the reproach made against Israel, when the Spirit calls heaven and earth to witness, saying, 'I have begotten sons and they have not known me' (Isaiah 1:2). In addressing him as Father we are also naming him God, so as to combine in a single term both filial love and power. Addressing the Father, the Son is also being addressed, for Christ said, 'I and the Father are one.' Nor is Mother Church passed over without mention, for the mother is recognized in the Son and the Father, as it is within the church that we learn the meaning of the terms Father and Son." (excerpt from ON PRAYER 2.2-6)
