First Reading - Isaiah 55:10-11
Gospel - Matthew 6:7-15
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The first reading presents to us a beautiful poetic hue of the effects of the word of God symbolized by rain and snow. The prophet Isaiah, consoling the dispirited and disappointed Israel in exile, reminds the people of the power of the word of God. He strikes a awesome comparison of the word of God with the rainfall or snowfall to show the effectiveness of the word of God; the effectiveness of the rain or snow lies in its inherent capacity to effect impact on the soil and the seed to produce vitality in them by causing fertility in the soil and growth of a plant through the seed respectively, so much as is the effectiveness of the word of God that is inherently bound to effect impact by carrying out God's will. Hereby, the prophet accentuates to rely on God and the effectiveness of God's word which is brought by God's messengers.
The gospel passage draws our attention to the most lovely and filial prayer taught by Jesus. The prayer of 'Our Father' has a deeper meaning and relational characteristics. This prayer relates us to God, relates us to oneself and to our fellow brothers and sisters. In relation to God, the prayer teaches us to relate to God as 'our Father' and connect to God as not a distinct reality without human touch. Jesus teaches us to feel the presence of God in our prayer as the One ready to listen and answer; all the same, without diluting the realization of the divinity of God, to give our praise, honour to Him and carry out His will. In relation to oneself, this prayer teaches us to depend on God like His child for our daily needs (food), struggles (temptations) and His mercy (forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from evil) in our lives. And in relation to our fellow brothers and sisters, the prayer teaches us to love and forgive everyone. The theme of forgiveness strikes out to emphasize that God's forgiveness depends on our life of forgiveness shown for one another.
Dear friends, we are in the season of Lent and the readings of today are fittingly geared to examine our prayer life and our faith. Faith and prayer are interconnected. The gospel amicably invites us to make a fusion of faith and prayer. Jesus teaches us through the passage that our prayers should become an occasion to relate to God as the Father, as the Person interested in us, and as the God accessable to us. He also encourages us further to make our approach to God like His child and strengthen our bonding with Him. However, Jesus doesn't cancel out the need to establish a bonding with our fellow beings rather encourages it by loving and forging them for their failures and faults. The 'Our Father' is a prayer which is relational in nature. This also reminds us that our prayers should be an occasion to relate to God personally and individually rather than verbally and routinely. We are to overcome the mundane nature of prayer to the level of the relational. The prayer should instill in us the realization of being God's children to relate to Him as Father and relate to everyone as God expects from us, in mercy and love.
The first reading invites us to believe in the power of the effectiveness of the word of God. The invitation of the prophet is to remain strong in faith in the promises of God. This also reminds us that our prayers should be nurtured and nourished by faith. As Paul says: 'Faith comes by hearing the word of God' (Rom. 10:17), thus, we need to make the Word of God our tool to grow in faith. Let's make an effort to read and meditate on the Word of God during this season of Lent so that we may grow in faith and our prayer life may become a real occasion to relate to God.
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