'Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.'

'Much more is accomplished by a single word of the Our Father said, now and then, from our heart, than by the whole prayer repeated many times in haste and without attention.'  - St. Teresa of Avila: (1515 – 1582: was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun and author during the Counter Reformation)

Gospel Text: (MT 6:7-15)

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."

When we look at the Our Father in the context of Saint Matthew’s gospel account, it’s striking that the first topic that Jesus discusses after ‘handing over’ this prayer to His disciples is the forgiveness of sins. This is not surprising, but it is striking. The Our Father is sometimes considered to be a compendium of the Gospel. And after giving us the “treasury” of the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord begins to teach by discussing the reality of sin.

Challenge those who dismiss either Lenten penance, or the Christian belief in sin itself. But recognize, at the same time, that Jesus’ words following today’s Gospel passage point us not only beyond our own sins, but even point us beyond the divine Love that we see when we look at the crucifix. Jesus points us outwards, to “those who trespass against us”. As Christians, we are defined not by our own sins, nor even—in the end—only by God’s love. In the end, we are defined by the manner in which we turn to others and forgive them as we have been forgiven by God the Father, by means of the very love by which He has forgiven us.