Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Saint Polycarp, Bishop, Martyr

Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. Polycarp

Readings for Tuesday of the First Week of Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible:

Readings and Commentary;[3]

Reading I: Isaiah 55:10-11

Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 55:10-11

“The Word comes from God, but it can be heard only when it is soaked up in human life and spoken with human accents. Deutero-Isaiah (Deutero-Isaiah refers to the second half of the book, written during the Babylonian exile) explains world history, particularly the sacred history of Israel, through the deep, omnipotent presence of the Word (cf. Wisdom 8:1; 2 Corinthians 9:10). M.-E. Boismard attributes to this text the immediate origin of the Johannine theology of the Word (St. John's Prologue [Westminster, 1957] 100). We hear its echo in John's doctrine of the Eucharist-the Word come down from heaven and received as bread (John 6:32, 35).”[4]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19

R. (18b) From all their distress God rescues the just.

Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.

The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.

When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. From all their distress God rescues the just.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19

Psalm 34 is a psalm of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance. The just cry out to the Lord and he hears them and rescues them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 6:7-15

We are given St. Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (see also Luke 11:2-4). We are told not to pray like the “pagans” notice he is not saying the hypocrites here – pagans of that era “babbled” long lists of names hoping one of them would be effective. The written commentary on this section is rich and I recommend reading the footnotes on this section for a good explanation of the various sections within the prayer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:

Even leaving the historical context of the commentary aside, we can take the reading from Isaiah a face value and understand that what the Prophet was saying was that his prayer would not be like sand thrown into the wind; that his prayer, his dialogue with God would bear fruit like rain falling on the crops.

Likewise, in the psalm, we give thanks to the Lord for hearing us in our distress. What does he hear? He hears our prayer. Prayers uttered at strange moments, at painful moments, even prayers uttered profanely and unintended are heard (think of that the next time you hit your finger with a hammer!)

Scripture brings us to closure on prayer with the story from Matthew about Jesus teaching his disciples to pray using the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern. We begin by, first, giving thanks and praise to God for all his works and all his kindness both now and in eternity. Then we ask for what we need each day, including forgiveness and asking for mercy as we show mercy.

The focus remains the same. We are called to be a people of prayer. Whether structured like the Liturgy of the Hours or short and simple like “God help me.” We need to be in constant communication with God. It is the Lord that provides us constant guidance, the Lord who leads us down right paths, and it is the Lord who speaks to us in the silence of our heart. It is that silence that we often forget. We must spend time listening to what God intends to tell us (as Fr. Pat Egan is fond of saying – “Without bullying God into listening to what we want him to say”).

As we continue to grow in discipleship today, we remember that we are called to pray constantly. We ask for the strength to do just that.

Pax

[1] A:TRE
[2] The picture is “Prayer in the Garden” by Sebastiano Ricci, c. 1730
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
[4] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc.© 1968