20170307 SCRIPTURE AND PRAYER
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 55:10-11 ©
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Thus says the Lord:
‘As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without
watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the
sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not
return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was
sent to do.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
33(34):4-7,16-19 ©
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The Lord rescues
the just in all their distress.
Glorify the Lord with
me.
Together
let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and
he answered me;
from all
my terrors he set me free.
The Lord rescues
the just in all their distress.
Look towards him and
be radiant;
let your
faces not be abashed.
This poor man called,
the Lord heard him
and
rescued him from all his distress.
The Lord rescues
the just in all their distress.
The Lord turns his
face against the wicked
to
destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his
eyes to the just
and his
ears to their appeal.
The Lord rescues
the just in all their distress.
They call and the
Lord hears
and
rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to
the broken-hearted;
those
whose spirit is crushed he will save.
The Lord rescues
the just in all their distress.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
Man does not live on
bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Matthew 6:7-15 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that
by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your
Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:
‘Our Father in
heaven,
may your name be held
holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in
heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
And forgive us our
debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to
the test,
but save us from the
evil one.
‘Yes,
if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you
yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your
failings either.’
SCRIPTURE
AND PRAYER
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ISA 55:10-11;
PS 33:4-7,16-19; MT 6:7-15 ]
One of
the pillars of the spiritual exercises recommended by the Lord and affirmed by
the Church for use particularly in the season of Lent is prayer. But what
is prayer? For many, to pray means to say a list of formulated
prayers. For others, it is a list of petitions asking God for this and
that. But in the gospel, Jesus made it clear that “In your prayers do not
babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make
themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need
before you ask him.”
How,
then, do we pray? This was the request of the disciples when they saw the
Lord in prayer. The depth of prayer has much to do with our knowledge and love
for the Word of God. The best prayers are reformulations of the Word of
God in concrete situations. The needs of the biblical people were no
different from ours. Only the circumstances have changed but the
fundamental needs and desires have not.
That is
why we cannot pray properly unless we are first familiar with the Word of God.
Jesus in the gospel made it clear. “If a man loves me, he will keep my
word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home
with him.” (Jn 14:23)
So too, in the first reading, God said, “the word that goes from my mouth does
not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it
was sent to do.” Only those who understand the Word of God and obey it
will find life.
Authentic
prayers are therefore always founded on the Word of God. The official
prayers of the Church, especially liturgical prayers, are all based on the
bible, particularly the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours. The
Word of God is the soul of all true Christian prayers because to pray is to
allow God to pray in and through us. This is why when we pray the Liturgy of
the Hours, especially the psalms, we are using the very Word of God given to us
in the Bible to pray to God Himself. Prayers that originate from God and
used to pray to Him make it a perfect prayer.
Consequently,
it must be said that a deeper love for the Word of God, a deeper meditation and
understanding of the scriptures will also help us to pray to God more
personally, deeply and efficaciously. If Catholics find it difficult to pray
spontaneously, it is because many do not read the Word of God regularly and so
are unable to use the words from the scripture to pray back to God.
Without a deeper meditation on the Word of God, they do not know who God
is personally and hence are not able to have a real conversation with
Him. St Jerome says that to be ignorant of the scriptures is to be
ignorant of our Lord. Only by contemplating on the scriptures can we
enter into the heart and mind of God and the passion, death and resurrection of
our Lord Jesus Christ. So if we want to deepen our prayer life, we
must deepen our love for the Word of God.
The
case in point is the Lord’s Prayer presented to us in the gospel. In
truth, the Lord’s Prayer is but a summary of the pertinent points of the gospel
teachings of our Lord and a recapitulation of the entire message of the
Bible. What Jesus has done for us in the Lord’s Prayer is to extract from
the Word of God, the fundamental principles and points for our way of life.
It can be said to be a summary of the gospel. In teaching the disciples
to pray this prayer, Jesus was giving them the Christian badge and identity of
being His follower.
In the
first petition, when we pray, “Our Father in heaven”, we are called to remember
that God is our Heavenly Father. He is the One who looks after us.
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask him!” (Lk 11:13)
Indeed, He is not just our creator nor is He distant from His
creation. He is not an impersonal being but someone who relates with us,
feels with us and is identified with us in our pains and suffering. “I
have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their
cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and
I have come down to deliver them.” (Ex 3:7f)
In the
second petition, we pray “may your name be held holy.” In other words, we
are called to praise God not just with our words but also with our lives.
The responsorial psalm says, “Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us
praise his name. I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my
terrors he set me free.” To keep His name holy is to glorify and praise
Him so that we are reminded of His majesty and holiness. By so doing, we,
as His children, will not do anything to tarnish His name and His glory.
To keep His name holy is to live our lives in such a way that we give glory to
Him.
After
giving glory to God, we pray, “your kingdom come.” For the Israelites,
God was not only their creator or Father but He was also their King. In fact,
all earthly kings are representatives of God the only King of the
universe. It was the belief of the Israelites that God had appointed them
to establish His kingdom of justice and peace in the world. “You shall be
to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Ex 19:6) It is our
task to establish the Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven. The
centrality of the message of Jesus in the gospel is the theme of the Kingdom of
God. To pray for the coming of God’s kingdom is to pray that His rule
will be established in the hearts of all so that all will live by the gospel
principles of justice, peace and love.
The
next petition, “your will be done, on earth as in heaven” is a corollary to the
preceding petition. To pray that God’s reign be on this earth is to pray
that we will only seek to do His will and not ours; and that His will is His
wisdom. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to
accomplish his work.” (Jn 4:34)
And at the Garden of Gethsemane, He surrendered to God’s will when He said,
“Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet
not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mk 14:36) And at His
final moments, He prayed, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” (Lk 23:46) We too must
seek only His will and surrender our lives to His holy will.
Following
our praises to God, we pray for ourselves. “Give us today our daily
bread.” Asking for our daily needs is what we are invited to pray.
God does not want us to hoard or be anxious about tomorrow. When He gave
manna to the Israelites, He did not allow them to collect too much but just for
the need of the day. In this way, we learn how to be contented and live
in trust in His divine providence. Our unhappiness comes about because we
want more and more. If we have the basic needs of life, we should learn
to be satisfied. Otherwise, we can never be happy in life. Our greed is
like an abyss that cannot be filled. There are more important things in
life that food and possessions. This is what the Lord said, “Therefore do not
be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What
shall we wear?’ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things shall be yours as well.” (Mt 6:31,33) Most of all, the
daily bread refers to the Word of God and the Eucharist. These two
spiritual kinds of bread must be consumed daily if we are to live
meaningfully. Through the Bread of life, we are inspired and
guided. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16)
Above
all, if many of us are not happy and at peace with ourselves and with others,
it is because of the lack of forgiveness in our lives towards ourselves and
towards others who sinned against us. Hence, one of the most recurrent
teachings of our Lord is on the importance of divine forgiveness and human
forgiveness. Hence, we must pray daily “And forgive us our debts, as we
have forgiven those who are in debt to us” because we are all sinners and
always in need of being forgiven and to forgive others. Indeed, Jesus
elaborated further, “Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly
Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father
will not forgive your failings either.”
Finally,
we pray, “And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one.”
Indeed, the battle against the Evil One continues every day in our life.
The setting of Jesus’ ministry is in the context of His warfare against the
Kingdom of Satan. Therefore we are being tested and challenged each day
to be faithful to God and His will. From the outset of His ministry,
Jesus was tempted by Satan when He was hungry and weak. (cf Mt 4:1-11) But we
are confident the Lord will assist us and fight the devil for us. The
psalmist says, “They call and the Lord hears and rescues them in all their
distress. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is
crushed he will save.”
In
conclusion, we can see clearly how the Lord’s Prayer is the pattern of all
prayers, simply because it is rooted in the teaching of Christ and the entire
Bible. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we bring to mind all that we have
learnt in scriptures and express for ourselves the mind of God. Jesus
promised us that if we did that, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so
that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (Jn 14:13) St John wrote,
“And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us.” (Jn 5:14)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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