Matthew 6: 7-15

Matthew 6: 7-15

Jesus speaks to his disciples in the Gospel of today about prayer. Jesus first speaks about the pagans and how they pray. “In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do”. The gentiles or pagans would recite a long litany of divine names hoping to gain their attention. They believed that by hitting the secret name, that would force God to act. It was like a magic formula. Jesus is stating that we don’t need to assault God with many words, with a lot of noise. God is already present to us and knows our needs.

Jesus then continues and instructs us to address his Father also as our Father. Jesus demonstrates in sharing the Our Father prayer that we too can have a personal relationship with God. We are honoured to be able to address God as Father despite the fact that his name is “hallowed” (holy).

The Father’s will which is obeyed completely in heaven, may it also burst into our world here on earth in our own practical concerns. Give the community, us, not just me, “our daily bread”, that God’s providence is shared by all. Our forgiveness of others releases God’s forgiveness. We cannot ask or expect God’s forgiveness if we ourselves are not willing to forgive. Steer us away from temptation and keep us safe from evil and the evil one.