First Reading: Is 55:10-11
Psalm: Ps 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
From all their distress God rescues the just.
Gospel: Mt 6:7-15
Tue: Lenten Weekday/ John of God, rf
1st Reading: Is 55:10-11
As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth: it will not return to me idle, but it shall accomplish my will, the purpose for which it has been sent.
Responsorial Psalm; Ps 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
From all their distress God rescues the just.
Gospel: Mt 6:7-15
When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him.
This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
holy be your name,
your kingdom, come,
your will, be done
on earth, as in heaven.
Give us today, our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we forgive those who are in debt to us.
Do not bring us to the test,
but deliver us from the evil one.
If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.
Reflection:
Effect of the Lord’s Prayer
Being the International Day of Women, we shall listen to an extraordinary woman. Here is Simone Weil speaking of her practice of reciting the Lord’s Prayer, in her book Waiting for God:
“The effect of this practice is extraordinary and surprises me every time, for, although I experience it each day, it exceeds my expectation at each repetition. At times the very first words tear my thoughts from my body and transport it to a place outside space where there is neither perspective nor point of view. The infinity of the ordinary expanses of perception is replaced by an infinity to the second or sometimes the third degree. At the same time, filling every part of this infinity of infinity, there is silence, a silence which is not an absence of sound but which is the object of a positive sensation, more positive than that of sound. Noises, if there are any, only reach me after crossing this silence.”