February 24, 2026
Tuesday of the First Week of
Lent
Lectionary: 225
Reading
1
Thus says the
LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17,
18-19
R. (18b) From
all their distress God rescues the just.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
Verse
Before the Gospel
One does not live
on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Gospel
Jesus said to his
disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This is how you are to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
“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.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022426.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
55:10-11
This short reading comes from the last chapter of the second
part of Isaiah, known as Second Isaiah (chaps 40-55). It is also known as the
‘Book of Consolation’ because it speaks with hope and encouragement of the
approaching end of the Jewish exile in Babylon, in contrast to earlier
prophecies which rather emphasised the punishments which Israel had merited by
her infidelities.
We are reminded that God has his plans for the world and
that they will not be frustrated. Those plans are not arbitrary. They are for
the well-being of all creation. He is the loving Father to whom we pray with
confidence, described in the Gospel reading about the Lord’s Prayer.
The prophet expresses these ideas in language that is truly
poetic. The inevitability of God’s Word being realised is like that of the
gentle rain that makes the earth fertile and fruitful, and so produces the seed
that provides the bread on which we live:
…so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Comments Off
Commentary on
Matthew 6:7-15
Jesus tells us here not to babble endless prayers as if
somehow by so doing we can bring God round to our way of thinking (see also
Elijah and the priests of Baal: 1 Kgs 18:25-29). Some religious groups, too,
would keep calling their god by all his different names, hoping that by hitting
on the right one he would listen. There is no need to do this because God knows
our needs before we ask. Why then do we need to pray at all?
The praying is not for God’s sake, but for our own. It is
important for us to become deeply aware of our needs, of our basic
helplessness, and of our total dependence on God. We also need to discern just
what God wants of us so that we can do what he wants.
And that is what the Lord’s Prayer is about. Strictly
speaking, it is not a prayer to be recited. It is a way of praying; it is a
list of the things we need to pray about. And it is less our telling God what
we want him to do than making ourselves aware of the ways by which we can
become more united with him. It is a very challenging prayer and, in a way, a
very dangerous and daring prayer to make.
Our Father…
God is the source of all our life and all we have and are. And, if Jesus urges
us to approach God as “Our Father”*, then every single
person, each one without exception, is my brother or sister.
May your name be revered as holy…may your kingdom
come…may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…
The three petitions are all really saying the same thing. Obviously, in one
sense we cannot make God’s name more holy than it is. But we do need to respect
that awesome holiness, and that is more for our sake than God’s. The petition
can also be a petition that God make his name holy by showing his glory, in
this case by bringing about the Kingdom in its fullness.
We want God to be loved and respected and worshipped by
all—not in some future life, but here and now on earth. We want the
loving and compassionate Reign of God to be fully accepted by people everywhere
as part of their lives, individually and corporately. We want God’s will for
this world to be also the will of people everywhere.
Clearly, all this has to begin with ourselves. The coming of
the Kingdom is not just the work of God alone; it is the result of our
cooperating with him in the work. What am I doing in my life now for the
realisation of that Kingdom?
Give us today our daily bread…
This is a prayer that our needs be satisfied for today, a prayer that rules out
excessive anxiety about the future. But how are those needs to be satisfied? Do
we expect manna to drop from the skies? And what about that little word ‘our’
again? Does it just mean me, my family, our community, our town, our country—or
much more? Is this not a prayer that we all work together to ensure that no one
goes hungry? Yet we know that millions do go to bed hungry every night and even
more suffer from an unhealthy diet. And we recognize that most of it is the result
of human behaviour and neglect. This prayer reminds us that changing that
situation is the responsibility of all of us—this is another dangerous prayer.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors…
Yet again, we have a dangerous thing to pray for. I really should not say it
unless I am ready to do it. And if I am not ready, I need to pray hard for a
forgiving heart. This is the only petition which is spelled out more clearly at
the end of today’s Gospel passage:
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you…
(also see Matt 18:21-35 about the unforgiving servant)
And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us
from the evil one…
A final plea that we will not fail, but that God’s help will be with us all the
way. It is an admission of our basic impotence to set things right in our own
lives and in the world. Given the challenges of the rest of the prayer, we need
all the help we can get.
If this prayer were to really enter our hearts and minds, we
would become deeply transformed people. So let us stop babbling it as we often
do and really pray it, phrase by phrase—and let us live it as well.
________________________________________________
*As discussed in the Catechism, “God transcends the human
distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also
transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and
standard: no one is father as God is Father.” (Catechism of the Catholic
Church, 239)
Comments Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1013g/
Tuesday,
February 24, 2026
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord God,
you speak Your mighty
word to us, but we cannot hear it unless it stirs our lives and is spoken in
human terms.
Keep speaking Your
word to us, Lord, and open our hearts to it, that it may bear fruit in us when
we do Your will and carry out what we are sent to do.
We ask You this through Your living
Word, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 6: 7-15
Jesus said to his disciples: "In praying, do not
babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many
words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those
who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from
evil. "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."
Reflection
There are two versions of the Our
Father: Luke (Lk 11: 1-4) and Matthew (Mt 6: 713). In Luke, the Our Father is
shorter. Luke writes for the communities which came from Paganism. In Matthew
the Our Father is found in the Discourse on the Mountain, in the part where
Jesus orientates the disciples in the practice of the three works of piety:
alms (Mt 6: 1-4), prayer (Mt 6: 5-15) and fasting (Mt 6: 1618). The Our Father
forms part of a catechesis for the converted Jews. They were accustomed to
pray, but had some vices which Matthew tries to correct.
•
Matthew 6: 7-8: The faults to be corrected.
Jesus criticizes the people for whom prayer was a repetition of a magic
formula, strong words addressed to God to oblige Him to respond to our needs.
The acceptance of our prayer by God does not depend on the repetition of words,
but on God’s goodness, on God who is love and mercy. He wants our good and
knows our needs even before we pray to Him.
•
Matthew 6: 9a: The first words: Our Father, Abba
Father, is the name which Jesus uses to address Himself to God. It reveals the
new relationship with God that should characterize the life of the communities
(Ga 4: 6; Rm 8: 15). We say Our Father and not My Father. The adjective places the
accent on the awareness or knowledge that we all belong to the great human
family of all races and creeds. To pray to the Father is to enter in intimacy
with Him. It also means to be sensitive to the cry of all the brothers and
sisters who cry for their daily bread. It means to seek in the first place the
Kingdom of God. The experience of God as our Father is the foundation of
universal fraternity. Matthew 6: 9b-10: Three requests for the cause of God:
The Name, the Kingdom, the Will. In the first part we ask that our relationship
with God may be re-established again. To sanctify His name: The name JAHVE
means I am with you! God knows. In this name He makes Himself known (Ex 3:
11-15). The name of God is sanctified when it is used with faith and not with
magic; when it is used according to its true objective, not for oppression but
for the liberty or freedom of the people and for the construction of the
Kingdom. The coming of the Kingdom: The only Lord and King of life is God (Is
45: 21; 46: 9). The coming of the Kingdom is the fulfillment of all the hopes
and promises. It is life in plenitude, the overcoming of frustration suffered
with human kings and governments. This Kingdom will come when the Will of God
will be fully accomplished. To do His will: The will of God is expressed in His
Law. His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. In Heaven the sun and the
stars obey the laws of their orbit and create the order of the universe (Is 48:
12-13). The observance of the law of God will be a source of order and
well-being for human life.
•
Matthew 6: 11-13: Four petitions for the cause
of the brothers: Bread, Pardon, Victory, Liberty. In the second part of the Our
Father we ask that the relationship among persons may be restored. The four
requests show how necessary it is to transform or change the structures of the
community and society in order that all the sons and daughters of God may have
the same dignity. The daily bread. In Exodus the people received the manna in
the desert every day (Ex 16: 35). Divine Providence passed through the
fraternal organization, the sharing. Jesus invites us to live a new Exodus, a
new fraternal way of living together which will guarantee the daily bread for
all (Mt 6: 34-44; Jo 6: 48-51). Forgive us our debts: Every 50 years, the
Jubilee Year obliged people to forgive their debts. It was a new beginning (Lv
25: 8-55). Jesus announces a new Jubilee Year, a year of grace from the Lord
(Lk 4: 19). The Gospel wants to begin everything anew! Do not lead us into
temptation, do not put us to the test: In Exodus, people were tempted and fell
(Dt 9: 6-12). The people complained and wanted to go back (Ex 16: 3; 17: 3). In
the new Exodus, the temptation will be overcome by the strength which people
receive from God (I Co 10: 12-13). Deliver us from evil: The Evil One is Satan,
who draws away from God and is a cause of scandal. He succeeds in entering in
Peter (Mt 16: 23) and to tempt Jesus in the desert. Jesus overcomes him (Mt 4:
1-11). He tells us: Courage, I have conquered the world! (Jn 16: 33).
•
Matthew 6: 14-15: Anyone who does not forgive
will not be forgiven. In praying the Our Father, we pronounce the phrase which
condemns us or absolves us. We say: Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those
who trespass us (Mt 6: 12).
We offer God the measure of pardon that we want. If we
forgive very much, He will forgive us very much. If we forgive little, He will
forgive little. If we do not forgive, He will not forgive us.
Personal Questions
Jesus prayer says “forgive our debts.” In some countries it is translated
as “forgive our offenses.” What is easier to forgive, the offenses or to
forgive the debts?
Christian nations of the Northern
Hemisphere (Europe and USA) pray everyday: Forgive our debts as we forgive
those who are in debt to us! But they do not forgive the external debt of poor
countries of the Third World. How can we explain this terrible contradiction,
source of impoverishment of millions of people?
Debt, in the context of
society, is not only money. In fact, in referring to people who have served
time in jail we say “they have paid their debt to society”. Do we accept these
people back into society? Not only have they paid their “debt”, they are often
treated as having not been forgiven.
How do we forgive others in terms of immigration,
documented or not, and accept them into our communities?
Concluding Prayer
Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh, let us
acclaim His name together. I seek Yahweh and He answers me, frees me from all
my fears. (Ps 34: 3-4)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét