Monday of the Third Week of Lent – Luke 4:24-30
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching His disciples
how to pray. He begins by telling them
that words alone are not sufficient. Often I realize when I am praying
Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer that I am not fully present to what I am
doing. Yes, I am praying the words. However, too often, my mind is
miles away.
One of the gifts of the prayers such as the Our
Father and Hail Mary is that we can pray them very easily. These prayers
are ingrained in our beings. Most of us learned them at a very young age
when, most likely, we simply rattled them off! Yet, despite our lack of
attentiveness, we still were praying even if it only was on a superficial level.
The gift is that these formal prayers become an
integral part of us. The downside is that they may become
automatic. However, even automatic prayer is still prayer if our
intention is to pray. And when our minds wander, we may not be as fully
present to God as we hoped to be. The gift is that God understands us.
God is the one who created us with “monkey” mind: a mind that swings from one limb to another
in a few seconds. God is patient with us!
Today Jesus gifts his disciples with the Our
Father. While you have heard this prayer thousands of times, today I invite
to pray the Our Father rather than simply say the Our Father. Take your
time and pray this prayer slowly and mindfully two times. Then sit
quietly for a few minutes. If we do this regularly every day, we may
notice a change within ourselves and perhaps a change in our relationship with
Jesus. What a gift that would be!
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