Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu dạy
chúng ta biết cách cư xử với Thiên Chúa như cách nguời con cư xử với người cha của chúng ta. Khía
cạnh đầu tiên là chúng ta phải
nên
có sự tin tưởng và niềm tự tin vào nơi Thiên Chúa khi chúng ta tâm sự với Ngài. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu cũng cảnh báo chúng ta: “Khi cầu nguyện, anh em đừng lải nhải nhiều lời..” (Mt 6:7). Khi chúng ta nói chuyện với cha mẹ của chúng ta, chúng ta
không bao giờ lý luận phức tạp, cũng không phải
nói nhiều, nhưng chúng ta chỉ đơn giản là xin cha me cho chúng ta những gì chúng cho cần và muốn xin. Chúng ta nên luôn luôn
biết rằng Thiên Chúa sẽ nghe những lời cầu xin của chúng ta bởi vì Thiên Chúa cũng là người Cha yêu thương chúng ta-và nghe lời chúng ta. Trong thực tế, cầu nguyện không
phải là việc trình bày, phúc
trình hay việc báo
cáo cho Thiên Chúa những gì chúng ta muốn làm, những gì chúng ta dự định làm và những thành quả mà chúng ta đã làm, nhưng cầu nguyện với Chúa là để khẩn khoàn
cầu xin Chúa ban cho chúng ta những gì chúng ta cần, như “Cha của anh em biết rõ
anh em cần gì trước
khi anh em cầu xin” (Mt 6:8). Chúng ta sẽ không phải là ngưới Kitô hữu tốt lành nếu chúng ta không cầu nguyện, như người con không thể là một đứa con tốt, có hiếu, nếu anh ta không nói
chuyện với cha mẹ của mình.
Trong
Mùa Chay, Giáo Hội nhắc nhở chúng ta nên biết dùng thời giờ để lắng đọng tâm hồn
và
cầu nguyện một cách sâu đậm hơn
như
Thánh Gioan Kim Khẩu đã nói: “Lời cầu nguyện, là những cuộc đối thoại trực tiếp giữa chúng ta với Thiên Chúa, là kho tàng quý báu nhất của chúng ta, bởi vì nhờ đó mà
chúng ta được
kết hợp với Người”. Điều cần nhất là để chúng ta cần phải biết sống trong đức bác ái thì lời cầu nguyện sẽ mang lại sức mạnh cho chúng ta để chúng ta sống thánh
thiện
hơn mỗi ngày. Những lý do tại sao chúng ta cầu nguyện với Chúa mỗi ngày là vì cầu nguyện giúp chúng ta biết tha thứ không phải chỉ là những vấn đề xích mích nhỏ thôi, Nhưng giúp chúng ta có thể đối diện với những vấn đề to lớn khác, nhưng không thể bằng những lời nói và thái độ thù nghịch, tấn công và còn hơn thế nữa, Cầu nguyện giúp ta có khả năng chịu đựng, không có ác ý hay
làm tổn thương đến người nào khác, Và chúng ta có thể thành thật nói với người thù nghịch của chúng ta là chúng ta đã thật lòng tha thứ cho hô với những gì mà họ đang mắc nợ với chúng ta. Và chúng ta có thể làm được điều đó vì có Chúa Thánh Thần nâng đỡ và hướng dẫn chúng ta và Đức Maria, mẹ Thiên Chúa cầu bầu cho chúng ta có được sức mạnh để phấn đấu.
Ôi
lạy Chúa! Xin Chúa giúp chúng con để chúng con biết con cần phải học biết làm thế nào để cầu nguyện
và làm thế nào để thâu hoạch những ơn ích cụ thể cho cuộc sống
của riêng của chúng con mỗi ngày
qua việc cầu nguyện.”
Comment: When you pray, do not
use a lot of words; your Father knows what you need
Today, Jesus —the Son of God—
teaches us how to behave like a son of God. A first aspect is our trust and the
confidence we should have when we talk to him. But our Lord warns us: «When you
pray, do not use a lot of words» (Mt 6:7). When we talk to our parents, we do
not resort to complicate reasoning, nor to using a lot of words, but they
simply ask for what they need. We should always know God will listen to us
because God —who is also the Father— loves us and listens to us. In fact, to
pray is not so much to inform God, but to ask him for all we need, as «Your
Father knows what you need, even before you ask him» (Mt 6:8). We will not be
good Christians if we do not pray, as a son cannot be a good son if he does not
talk to his parents.
The
Lord's Prayer is the prayer that Jesus himself taught us, and it is just a
compendium of our Christian life. Each time we say the Lord's Prayer we let the
Father to take us by the hand and we ask him what we need everyday to become a
better sons of God. We need not only the material bread, but —more than that—
the Celestial Bread: «Let us beg we never lack the Eucharist bread». We need
also to learn to forgive and to be forgiven: «To be able to receive the
forgiveness God offers us, let us to address ourselves to the Father who loves
us», as it is said in the Mass in the preliminary introduction to our Lord's
Prayer.
During
Lent, the Church is asking us to deepen in our prayers. «The prayer, our
colloquy with God, is our best treasure, because it means (...) being united to
him» (Saint John Crisostom). Oh Lord! I need to learn how to pray and how to
draw specific benefits for my own life. Mostly to live the virtue of charity:
the prayer gives me strength to live it better every day. And this is why I ask
him daily to help me to forgive not only the small troubles I may have to face
from others but, also, the offensive words and attitudes and, more than that,
to bear no malice to my fellow men, so that I can sincerely tell them I have
forgiven from the bottom of my heart those who are in debt with me. I will be
able to achieve it because God's Mother will help me at all times.
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
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. Matthew 6:7–8
Recall
that Jesus used to go off by Himself at times and spend the whole night in
prayer. Thus, it’s clear that Jesus is in favor of long and sincere times of
prayer, since He gave us His own example as a lesson. But there is clearly a
difference between that which our Lord did all night and that which He
criticized the pagans for doing when they “babble” with many words. After this
criticism of the prayer of the pagans, Jesus gives us the “Our Father” prayer
as a model for our personal prayer.
The
Our Father prayer begins by addressing God in a deeply personal way. That is,
God is not just an all-powerful cosmic being. He is personal, familial—He is
our Father. Jesus continues the prayer by instructing us to honor our Father by
proclaiming His holiness, His hallowedness. God and God alone is the Holy One
from which all holiness of life derives. As we acknowledge the holiness of the
Father, we must also acknowledge Him as King and seek His Kingship for our
lives and for the world. This is accomplished only when His perfect will is
done “on earth as it is in Heaven.” This perfect prayer concludes by
acknowledging that God is the source of all of our daily needs, including the
forgiveness of our sins and protection from all evil.
Upon
the completion of this prayer of perfection, Jesus provides a context in which
this and every prayer must be prayed. He says, “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.” Prayer will
only be effective if we allow it to change us and make us more like the Father
in Heaven. Therefore, if we want our prayer of forgiveness to be effective,
then we must live what we pray for. We must also forgive others so that God
will forgive us.
Reflect,
today, upon this perfect prayer, the Our Father. One temptation is that we can
become so familiar with this prayer that we gloss over its true meaning. If
that happens, then we will find that we are praying it more like the pagans who
simply babble the words. But if we humbly and sincerely understand and mean
every word, then we can be certain that our prayer will become more like that
of our Lord’s. Saint Ignatius of Loyola recommends pondering every word of that
prayer very slowly, one word at a time. Try to pray this way, today, and allow
the Our Father to move from babbling to authentic communication with the Father
in Heaven.
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. Amen. Jesus, I
trust in You.
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent 2025
Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, I do not know how to pray as I ought.
Guide my prayer today. Help me to praise you and thank you. Help me to ask for
good things and to seek forgiveness for my sins.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Thy Name Be Hallowed: The first petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be
thy name,” asks that God’s holy name be recognized and treated as holy. “When
something is holy, it is consecrated, set apart from everything else – in that
sense, it is transcendent. Yet it is set apart, not for isolation, but for a
personal and interpersonal purpose; not for distance, but for intimacy”
(Hahn, Understanding Our Father, 20). God’s holy name
is the basis for the covenant relationship between God and humanity: “The name
of God, then, is His own covenant identity, His personal identity. It’s what
proves our personal relationship with Him. When we call upon that name – “Our
Father!” – God responds as a Father, and we receive His help” (Hahn, Understanding
Our Father, 21). The first petition asks that God’s plan of salvation be
realized and that God’s holiness be made known to all the nations. God’s name
is “hallowed” when his people are delivered from evil, are saved from the
slavery of sin, and live as a holy nation and royal priesthood. In asking that
God’s name be hallowed, we are asking for God’s assistance so that we do not
profane God’s name in the world. We are asking to share in God’s holiness: “Be
holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).
2. Thy Kingdom Come: The second petition asks for the coming of God’s Kingdom.
“Jesus taught His disciples to pray for the Kingdom because, even though the
King has come among us, He has not yet manifested Himself fully. … His Kingdom
has entered the world. It is here. Yet it is not fully manifest. … The Kingdom
is here, and the King is among us. He is here in all His glory, and He reigns
in mystery, in the Eucharist, in the Church” (Hahn, Understanding Our
Father, 28-29). When we pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” we are asking that God
reign in our hearts and in the world. As the Kingdom expands throughout the
world and history, we look forward to and ask for the definitive establishment
of the Kingdom at the end of time – when all evil will be vanquished, sin will
be eradicated, and death will be no more. When we pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” we
recognize three advents (comings) of the Kingdom: The Kingdom has come to us in
the past, in the Incarnation; comes to us in the present, in the Eucharist;
“and it will come to us in fullness in the future, in the unveiling of divine
glory at Christ’s second coming” (Hahn, Understanding Our Father,
30).
3. Thy Will Be Done: The third petition, “Thy will be done,” asks that
God’s will be accomplished here on earth. When we pray, we do not seek to
change the will of God or inform God of something that he does know. Our prayer
changes us, not God. It changes our hearts, not God’s. It disposes our will to
do God’s will and us to receive the good things our Father wills to give us.
And what God wills for us is our holiness (see 1 Thessalonians 4:3) – that we
partake of and, one day, definitively attain God’s eternal and divine life.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you gave us the supreme model of prayer. You
taught us to call God our Father. You truly sanctified and glorified your
Father’s name. You established your Father’s Kingdom. Your Father’s will was
your food. As an obedient Son, you resisted temptation and conquered the evil
one.
pening
Prayer: Lord, teach me to pray
simply, sincerely, and with an open heart. Give me the grace to surrender to
you in prayer.
Encountering
Christ:
Simple Words for Perfect Prayer: These words of Jesus are perfect, simple, and
concise. Each precious phrase invites us to a conversion of heart, soul, and
mind. Christ tells us we should begin our prayer with a surrender to the
divinity of God, our almighty Father. We then ask our loving Father for seven
petitions: 1) Hallowed be thy name, 2) Thy kingdom come, 3) Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven, 4) Give us our daily bread, 5) Forgive us our
trespasses, 6) Lead us not into temptation, and 7) Deliver us from evil. Christ’s
words are eloquent in their simplicity and clarity, yet they contain challenge
upon challenge to our fallen human nature.
A Synthesis of Scripture: Each phrase of the Lord’s Prayer touches upon
truths found in other parts of Scripture. Only Jesus could have spontaneously
provided such a beautiful synthesis of the Divine Word for us! For example,
when we say “Our Father in heaven,” we echo Isaiah 66:1 and Acts 7:49: “Heaven
is your throne and the earth is your footstool.” “Hallowed be thy name” is
reflected here: “From the rising of the sun to its setting, may your name be
praised and be great among the nations! Let your glory be over all the earth!”
(Psalms 113:3-4). “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” is
similar to,“For the glory of your name, deliver us and atone for our sins, for
your name’s sake! (Psalms 79:9). (For a more complete look at the scriptural
roots of the Our Father, see Expanded Lord's Prayer with Scripture References.) The Lord’s Prayer, awesome in its depth and scope,
offers a perfect framework for our daily prayer.
Grace for Our Prayer Lives: The Our Father is one of the most familiar prayers in all
of Christianity. In our fallen human state, we can easily speak the words of
the Lord’s Prayer mechanically, but to truly surrender ourselves to our Father,
we need his help. Only the grace of the Holy Spirit can conform our hearts and
minds to the aspirations of this prayer. Like children, we must ask for our
Father’s assistance in a task that we can not hope to accomplish alone.
Conversation
with Christ: Oh Lord, how easy
it is to speak the words to the Lord’s Prayer. I have known it all my life. How
hard it is to open my heart and mind and pray as I should. Please give me a
childlike trust in you, my beloved Father. I humbly ask you to send your Spirit
upon me, and to unite my soul to each and every word of this perfect prayer.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will write out the
Lord’s Prayer, leaving space between each line. I will use those blank spaces
to jot down inspirations from the Holy Spirit on how I can better pray each
part of this most perfect prayer.
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