Tuesday of the
First Week of Lent
(Isaiah55:10-11; Matthew 6:7-15)
When Isaiah speaks of God’s word going forth from His
mouth, he is using the term figuratively.
Word is more than a vocal
sound with a definite meaning; it is a figure of speech standing for all truth
about God. For this reason Jesus is
called the “Word of God.” When we see
Jesus, we see God. This does not mean
that we can know everything about God who will forever remain a mystery. In a sense, but in an infinitely greater way,
as we cannot know everything even about any person even our spouses for fifty
years, we will never come to know all about God.
In today’s gospel Jesus reveals what is most important to
us about God. When he urges us to call
God “Father,” he is telling us that although God created the universe, He still
cares for us individually with the tenderest of loves. Jesus also reminds us, “like father, like son”:
as we expect God to pardon our sins, we should forgive others theirs.
Many of us pray the “Our Father” throughout the day. We do well to make it our last words as we go
to sleep at night and the first words on our lips in the morning. In this way we will never forget that God is at
hand to help us and that we are made to be like Him.
