The Lord Hears

March 3, 2009

First Tuesday in Lent

By Beth DeCristofaro

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. (Psalm 34:4-5)

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…" (Matthew 6: 8-9)

Piety

Thank you, God, for loving me. Thank you for my family. Help me to learn more each day to be kind at work and play. Amen. (Prayer from Daycare)

Study

“Our Father,” Jesus says, calling us together to share his special relationship with His Father. We are invited to be as close to God as is Jesus. God looks upon his beloved son and sees us. Are we accepting of that most awesome, glorious and fearful gaze? The creative, dynamic and eternal dance of the Father and Son is completed through the Spirit who gives us the courage to raise our eyes to say: “Our Father.” We, too, as children of God, are not complete by ourselves. We need God and we need God’s other children. We say “Our Father” not “my father.”

In our humanity, when we feel most unworthy or utterly mortal, God doesn’t wait for us to come home but like the Father of the Prodigal, God runs to meet us. Our Father’s outstretched and loving arms were brought to life in Jesus’ outstretched arms on the cross. Jesus brings us to the Father in his embrace.

God asks us to chose life over death, love over fear, God over imperfection. As our arms stretch out in embrace, we, too, accept the cross. It is both burden and salvation but we can be sure that “Our Father” keeps His children embraced, sheltered, nourished and cherished in all we are and in all we experience. God became just like us, exposed to life, in our brother Jesus. God wants us, like Jesus did, to find God in the sufferings and in the vitality of our lives.

Action

Give Our Father a special praise today by praying a “thanks” for each person you encounter today. Celebrate that he/she is a brother or sister of yours, beloved child of God and God’s unique creation.