Matthew 6: 7-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
What Can Be Accomplished In Us
“For Your Father Knows What You Need Before You Ask” (Matthew 6:8)
The advice Jesus offers his disciples regarding prayer touches on a very human tendency many of us are prone to. We love to get things done. Whether it be in our work, our studies, or our relationships, we can often long for a clean “how-to” manual to navigate these things. More simply, we often just want to be shown what the right answer is.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with this. Most of us want to do a good job and be a good person. The problem in this approach, however, lies in the reality that it often leads to us simply going through the motions. Despite our good intentions, quantity takes precedent over quality, and efficiency is confused with efficacy.
In teaching his disciples to pray, Jesus instructs them to not simply “heap up empty phrases” and to resist believing that the more they say, the more they’ll be heard. It can be easy for us to enter Lent with the same mindset.
So, we might heed a similar caution this Lent. It can be tempting to seek a perfect Lenten penance, something at the end of these next 40 days to point to that which we accomplished for God. Rather, we should see our undertaking these practices so that we might become more aware of our need for God and that which he desires to accomplish in us during this season.
—Noah Banasiewicz, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic and lecturer in the School of Communication at Loyola University Chicago.
Prayer
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
—Suscipe Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.