The Gospel today highlights these aspects. Jesus talks about prayer. It begins with a shocking statement: when you pray, do not babble. It took me years to identify this horrible way of praying. And it took a lot of courage and strength to eliminate empty words from my prayer. I always had the impression that I had to do all the talking and I had to make sure God knew what He was supposed to do for me. And so I spent minutes after minutes babbling.... How many moments of prayer wasted with only words: rosaries said without thinking, sacraments celebrated as routine... thank goodness that I learned how damaging useless words can be. I am not completely over, I still fall into the temptation of filling my prayer time with words... but I am getting better. So much better.
Prayer teaches me about relationships. The Our Father is a prayer that immediately challenges me to look at my relationships. "Our" is the context of the prayer. Immediately I become aware that I do not pray alone. I am with many, and as one Body we dare to call God Father. I pray with others who have come before me as believers, with others who are praying with me, and with those whom will follow. I pray for others, those who lived long ago, live with me and those who will be born tomorrow.
If I do not take care of my relationships I cannot truly say "Our." I have to make sure I grow in Love for everyone so that this prayer will become more truthful.
"Father." This is the word that clearly seems to identify God's identity. Abba, father. How do I relate to Him? Do I prefer Him to be a "magical" God who will do what I say? Or, am I willing to call Him Father and begin to relate to Him as His child.
I want to pray today using only these two words. I don't want to babble but I want to be open to a new way of living Lent - through relationships. At the end of the day, all the people I have encountered and loved will be included in my prayer, in my "our." And it will be a true celebration!
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