Tuesday of the 1st Week of Lent
Isa 55:10-11
Mt 6:7-15
“So you should pray like this:…”
On a particularly cold Saturday a few weeks ago, a warning for ice was issued in the northeast region of the Netherlands. For some reason, I missed the warning and was therefore shocked when I slipped and fell almost immediately after I exited my apartment building. The cobblestones outside were coated with an invisible layer of ice that rendered walking practically impossible. As I was already running late for choir practice before mass, I persisted as best as I could. After several near misses on the way to the church, I fell again right outside its entrance. After having the wind knocked out of me during this second fall, I began to worry about not being able to make my way safely home after mass. That was when something clicked and I began to pray fervently for God to help me out of this situation. What surprised me then was that I could not recall the last time I had prayed with such fervour. What was perhaps much less surprising was that my prayers were answered quite quickly after mass ended, in the form of a fellow choir member who kindly offered me his crampons for my walk home.
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer. The reading starts with an exhortation that prayer is not merely a recitation of many words in a set order, as if they are a magic formula that obliges God to answer them. Our Father knows us intimately, even before a word is on our lips. The purpose of prayer, then, is not to inform Him of our needs, but to draw us into relationship with Him. For many Catholics, the first introduction to structured prayer is likely the Lord’s Prayer. We have probably said these words innumerable times, but how many of those times were we fully present? We begin this prayer by professing God as our heavenly and holy Father, placing ourselves before Him. We surrender our own plans in favour of His will, trusting Him with our physical and spiritual needs, and ask both for mercy and for the grace to extend that same mercy to others. We then place our weaknesses before Him, aware of our dependence on His protection. When we pay close attention to the meaning of those all-too-familiar words, the Our Father becomes less a memorised text and more an invitation into trust and relationship.
For a long time now, I had not managed to be fully present when I prayed. I had somehow developed a habit of letting my thoughts drift whenever I started uttering the Hail Mary, the Our Father, or any spontaneous prayer. Since I could not really concentrate or focus, I couldn’t pray properly, for I was certainly unable to lift my heart and mind up to God. My experience that icy afternoon was a stark and timely reminder that I have to trust in God completely and rely solely on His grace, in order to truly connect with Him through prayer.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Edith Koh)
Prayer: We pray that we will be able to bring our whole selves before God in prayer, trusting in His love even when we are unable to see a way forward.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks to God for His numerous blessings, especially for those that came in His time, when He deemed us ready to receive them. We thank Him for His patience, for always drawing us into deeper relationship with Him.
OXYGEN 
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