Homily Tuesday the First Week of Lent (Matthew 6:7-15) “Prayer is not Selfish.”
Homily Tuesday the First Week of Lent (Matthew 6:7-15) “Prayer is not Selfish.”
One of the things that we never think about is that the Our Father seems to be a prayer for the common good. Most often we say it to ourselves, so we personalize it. The words are between us and God.
But if we take a moment to examine the Our Father, we find that it is written in the plural. The Our Father uses words like our, us and we. This causes the prayer to take on a whole different dimension.
Our society is most often a me first society. We compete from the time we first enter school until we retire from work. The competition can enter our religious practice. We can desire to outperform those around us. Lent is a perfect time for that kind of competition. Can we pray harder than the next person? Are we able to give more money to charity? What can we abstain from that will be impressive? Of course, that is not what Lent is all about.
I have heard it said by good people that the object of our religious life is to get to heaven. Somehow it sounds like we believe in Jesus because it may pay off for us with eternal life. We live good lives and try to stay out of trouble for a very selfish reason, so I can be saved.
But the Our Father remind us that we are all in this together. We pray that “all” may have their daily bread. We ask God to forgive all people in the world their sins. We ask that everyone avoid temptation. The Our Father is not about condemning others behavior. But it is about asking that we all experience the Lord’s mercy.
On this Lenten weekday we remember that our hope is that everyone will enjoy the Kingdom of Jesus.
Reflection Questions:
- How often do I pray that others will be forgiven of their sins? Am I caught up in condemning others?
- Am I motivated to follow Jesus by some reward I hope to get some day? Or am I inspired to follow Jesus because it is the right thing to do?
Dear Parishioners,
Yesterday was a very wonderful day at Sacred Heart. Bishop Louis Tylka came and made his first visit to our campus. He came to tour Seton Catholic Grade School and to have Mass with the children.
The Bishop is the coadjutor bishop of Peoria. When Bishop Jenky retires Bishop Tylka will succeed him. Bishop Lou as he like to be called was very generous with his time. He came at 10 a.m. and toured the classrooms for an hour and then had Mass at 11 a.m. You can see pictures and a replay on Sacred Heart’s and Seton’s Facebook page. After Mass Bishop Lou had lunch with the faculty and staff.
He waded through the slush and the snow and he said he was glad to be away from his desk. He is awed by the size of our diocese, but hopefully visits like this will inspire him to travel a lot around Central Illinois.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark