HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT, LITURGICAL CALENDAR [YEAR B]
THEME: Your Father in heaven knows what you need before you even ask him.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA
READINGS OF THE DAY
Isaiah 55:10-11
Psalm 33:4-7,16-19
Matthew 6:7-15
LITURGICAL COLOUR
PURPLE/VIOLET
INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Tuesday of the First Week of Lent, Liturgical Calendar Year B.
ALSO RECOMMENDED: TUESDAY HOMILY – Year B (Sts Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Doctors).
FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God spoke to His people regarding His Word, Whom He sent into the world to do His will, to bless and to provide for all of us, His beloved ones. This was in fact a premonition and also a prophecy on what was to happen and come, with the coming of the Word of God, incarnate in the flesh as the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, Who had been sent into our midst to save us all from certain destruction and damnation, and to fulfil what God has always desired to do with us, and that is to love us all and to bring us all back to Himself, so that we will be reconciled with Him, and made perfect and good once again. And to this extent, that was why He gave us all the most perfect gift of all in His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, the Divine Word Incarnate.
FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of Matthew in which the Lord Jesus talked to His disciples and followers about the matter of praying to God. He told them all that when they pray, they must not be like those who often said a lot and made a lot of words and yet, they did not truly embody and understand what they were saying. The Lord also spoke against all those who spoke many words and did not even understand what prayer is all about, and hence, He taught all of His disciples on how they should be praying, with the prayer which He Himself has made, the prayer that we now know well as the ‘Our Father’, also known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ because it is He Himself Who has taught us this perfect prayer.
CONCLUSION
Today in a special way, we learn that, prayer is all about communication that we have with God, and not merely a litany of words and demands, unlike what many of us had often misunderstood this important essence of prayer. Prayer is first of all about thanking and glorifying God, thanking Him for everything that He has done for us, for the many blessings we have received and ultimately for the lives we have been blessed with, all these while. Prayer is not about praising or glorifying ourselves, and also not about making demands of the Lord, asking and demanding Him to do things for us, which is what prayer is about, in our mistaken and flawed understanding. Prayer is something that needs to be made from the heart, our connection with God, our loving Father, as we speak and listen to Him, communicating with Him genuinely.
The Lord Be With You.
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