Tuesday of the FirstWeek of Lent
Year B, Cycle II – Feb.20, 2018
Is. 55:10-11 – Ps 34 – Mt. 6:7-15
Before He taughtHis disciples how to pray, Jesus said, don’t worry about your needs; Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Too often, our prayer is nothing more than a list of things we want.
But Jesus is telling us not to worry about the material things, even those things we need, but to pray for those things that will help us get into Heaven. And there are 7 of them in the Lord’s Prayer.
The first 3, like the first 3 in the 10 commandments, refer to our relationship with God: His Name; His Kingdom; and His Will.
The remaining 4 petitions refer to God’s relationship with us.
It’s no coincidence that there are exactly 7 petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. The number 7 symbolizes completeness and perfection, and it appearsin the Bible735 times.
Let’s consider what we are asking for when we offer God our sevenfold petitions by adding a little clarification to each.
*1)May Your Name be hallowed-may Your Name be revered, respectedand may we treat it as Holy, because Your Name isHoly.
*2)May Your Kingdom come -may HeavenItself come down to Earth, and may You, Abba, rightly rule all that You have created.
*3)May Your Will be done -may the loving designs of Your Heart, O Lord, save and transfigure the world.
*4)Give us this day our -daily-SupersubstantialBread -the Bread we need to go on living today; the bread necessary for our bodies and souls
*5)Forgive us our trespasses -Father of justice, we have sinned against You, please forgive us.
*6)Lead us not into temptation -Lord, we are weak and need your strength. That is why we turn to You for help.
*7)Deliver us from evil -Father, we are weary from the fight, protect us from the Evil One.
Of all 7 petitions, Jesus chose the 5th one to emphasize; the one dealing with forgiveness.
Forgive us our trespasses. But then Jesus adds a caveat;as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Jesus explains that there is a relationship between forgiving and being forgiven; we must forgive in order to be forgiven.
If you forgive men their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
This relationship between forgiving and being forgiven is both conditional, and proportionate.
It is conditional because, if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us. It is proportional because, God will forgive us only to the degree that we forgive others.
In a very real sense Jesus is saying that when we become God-like, that is, when we act with God’s Authority, we will be forgiven.
Do you remember the incident where 4 men brought a paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed? They couldn’t get into the house so they went on the roof and lowered their friend down in front of Jesus. St. Luke tells us that, When Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven. The Scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, Who but God alone can forgive sins?(Lk. 5:21)
God alone can and does forgive sins, AND…He gave Hisauthority to forgive sins, first of all, to St. Peter and the Apostles, and through Apostolic succession, to Bishop Knestout, Father Stephen, and to every other priest.
Then He gaveus a share in His power; we can forgive the sins those who have sinned against us.
When we forgive others, we become God-like; we act like God.
When we do not forgive others who have sinned against us, we do not become God-like; we do not act like God.
If you forgive men their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
Very soon we will all pray the “Prayer our Savior taught us”.
I want you to listen to the words you are saying and think of the person or persons who have hurt you physically or emotionally: who have lied to you, or about you; betrayed you; stolen something from you, or committed any other sin against you.
Then think of the sins you have committed against God: lying to your parents, teachers or friends; cheating on a test; looking at inappropriate things on your cell phone or tablet; stealing, or any other sins you have committed against God’s Commandments.
And think about what you are asking God to do: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
We just began our Lenten journey. This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.
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