Daily Gospel Reflection

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February 20, 2024

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Mt 6:7-15
Listen to the Audio Version

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.
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,
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.

“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.”

Reflection

Mary Schmidtlein Rhodes '80
ND Parent
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Most of us learned the Our Father prayer by heart as children. We pray it collectively at every Mass and when we recite the rosary. Like the pagans Jesus castigates in today’s gospel, I often babble this prayer mindlessly on autopilot instead of praying it meaningfully from my heart.

The opening words form an immediate and intimate relationship with God, Jesus, and each other. I am addressing not simply my father but our father. How radical it is for us to be able to call God, the almighty creator of the universe, our father, a relationship that Jesus calls us to share with him. No longer is God distant, fearful, and removed, but caring, protective, and personally related to you and me.

Having directed us to call God our father, Jesus sets forth seven petitions: three “thy” petitions directed to God and four “us” petitions. The “thy” petitions instruct us to sanctify and set apart God’s name, seek his kingdom, and do God’s will. By surrendering ourselves to God’s divine plan, we shift our focus away from ourselves and onto God and each other, moving more deeply into the Father’s loving embrace.

The “us” petitions seek provision for our daily needs, forgiveness, and protection. Every day, we ask God to give us physical and spiritual bread. The simplicity of this daily request underscores how completely dependent we are on God. Our petition for forgiveness emphasizes the reciprocal nature of divine mercy. Being in the right relationship with God requires us to be in the right relationship with one another. Just as God showers mercy and compassion upon us, we must mirror these divine attributes with each other. In the concluding “us” petitions, we ask for God’s protection and guidance when facing temptations and evil.

This Lent, let us heed Jesus’ instruction not to babble our prayers rotely by heart. Instead, let us approach God, Our Father, from our hearts with sincerity and humility.

Prayer

Rev. Adam Booth, C.S.C.

Our Father in Heaven, you are infinitely forgiving and merciful. Help us to live lives of forgiveness that your name may be hallowed throughout all the earth. Grant this through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Saint of the Day

Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto

Francisco and Jacinta Marto were siblings who lived near Fatima, Portugal, and received the famous visions of Our Lady there.

On May 13, 1917, they were tending sheep with their cousin, Lucia Santos, when they received the first of six visions of Mary. Francisco was 9 years old, and Jacinta was 7, at the time of the apparition.

Mary gave the children three secrets, studied and approved by the Church, in which she spoke of the coming world war and of the conversion of Russia. Reports of the apparition drew controversy and attention world-wide, and Fatima became a shrine and pilgrimage site.

The children were instructed to pray for the conversion of sinners, and after the visions they all took on mortifications such as fasting and wearing tight cords around their waists.

Francisco was thoughtful and quiet and preferred to pray alone. Jacinta was affectionate and had a sweet singing voice. In 1918, the two were struck with the Spanish Flu epidemic that soon took their lives. During their months of illness, they insisted on walking to church for Mass and Eucharistic devotions. They would also kneel and pray for hours with their heads on the ground, according to instructions they received in their vision.

Francisco declined hospital treatment and died on April 4, 1919, at the age of 10. Jacinta was taken several places for treatment, including a surgery without anesthesia.

Jacinta devoted the pain of her illness to the conversion of sinners, and she finally died on this date in 1920.

They are both buried at the Our Lady of Fatima Basilica in Portugal and were canonized in 2017. (When they were beatified in 2000, Jacinta was the youngest child to be beatified who was not martyred.)

Statues of Francisco and Jacinta kneeling before Our Lady of Fatima stand in front of what used to be the Fatima Retreat House across the lake from campus. The retreat house is now a residence for Holy Cross religious.

Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto, you saw Mary at Fatima and prayed for our conversion—pray for us!


Image Credit: Our featured image of Sts. Francisco and Jacinta Marto is in the public domain. Last accessed December 6, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.