Tuesday March 7, 2017
1st Week of Lent
1st Reading: Is 55:10–11Gospel: Mt 6:7–15
Jesus said to his disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do, for they hold that the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him.“This, then, is how you should pray:Our Father in heaven,holy be your name,your kingdom comeand your will be done,on earth as in heaven.
“Give us today the kind of bread we need.“Forgive us our debtsjust as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.“Do not bring us to the testbut deliver us from the evil one.“If you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
A little boy texted God the following prayer: “Our Father thou art in heaven, Harold be thy name…” An angel replied: “Missent! God is not Harold.” The boy texted again: “Give us this day our daily bread with French fries and a drink of marmalade…” The angel replied: “You are ordering, not praying!” The boy texted one more time: “Do not bring us to the test but deliver us some email. Amen”.
None of us adults misspell or mispronounce the “Our Father” unless we dare make fun of it. But flawless recitation thereof is one thing, praying as we should is another. Do we really know how to pray? A story is told of three men who even made an issue out of the proper body position while praying. One said kneeling, while the other insisted that lying prostrate on the ground is the most effective body position in praying. The electrician gave this thought-provoking answer: “The best position in prayer is when I am up there hanging up-side-down held only by cables at my waist repairing a live electric transmission line.”
More important than body posture is attitude at prayer. The electrician’s total self-surrender is the best attitude. On this point many of us fail for treating God like a vendo machine. Vendo machines pertain to entrepreneurship while prayer is about relationship. One who is in a genuine relationship cannot afford to treat the beloved as a milking cow. At prayer our hearts should remain open to the Holy Will of God believing that even before we pray the Lord already knows our needs (Matthew 6:8).
We are no different from that child who took the words of the “Our Father” wrong. For while we rattle off this prayer flawlessly the motive is not to build deeper relationship but to place before God an urgent order of specific needs. Then we sulk if no delivery happens thereafter. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM.
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