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Lenten Weekday
Isaiah 55:10-11
Psalm 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
Matthew 6:7-15
Summary
Isaiah declares that the Word of the Lord shall do the Will of the Lord on earth,
like rain and snow waters the earth to make it fruitful, achieving the end for which
God sent it. The end is salvation that includes, as the Psalmist prays, rescue of
the just, who shall be delivered from fear, and rescue of the poor, who shall be
saved. Evildoers shall be confronted, and the brokenhearted consoled in the
closeness with the Lord. In Matthew˅s Gospel, Jesus tells us how not to pray
and shows us how to pray.
Reflection
As a child of five, I learned the ˈOur Fatherˉ along with the ˈHail Maryˉ and the
ˈGlory Beˉ from my mother who would pray them with me at my bedside until I
knew them by heart and said them from habit. Looking back, what I loved was
my Mom being there, her assurance in prayer made my nightmares not real. The
Word on my mother˅s lips rescued me from my childhood fear and distress and
bore fruit.
But I did not give a thought to their meaning until I was closer to 40 than 30. I do
remember how pleased I was to see
the Our Father for the first time in
Matthew. I did not know then that
its words were those of Jesus.
Somehow, the phrase at Mass in-
troducing the Our Father as ˈthe
words our Savior gave usˉ had not
sunk in to my mind too often pre-
occupied with ˈmy will be done.ˉ
My mother˅s death at age 58 broke
that mind set for a time. Knowing