Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Word From God And Word To God
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
God speaks his word to people in many ways: first of all, his word-in-action, that is, his saving deeds; secondly, his words written down in the Bible. Above all, God speaks his living Word, Jesus Christ.
God’s word can be heard only and find resonance when it takes on flesh and blood – when it becomes incarnate – in the lives of people and vibrates with human thought and feeling. If so, one can respond to it with prayerful words of recognition and with the living prayer of deeds. Prayer is our echo to God’s word and so are our deeds.
In this Eucharistic celebration, God speaks his word to us in the readings and he gives us his living Word in the Eucharistic bread.
Opening Prayer
Lord God,
you speak your mighty word to us,
but we cannot hear it,
unless it stirs our lives
and is spoken in human terms.
Keep speaking your word to us, Lord,
and open our hearts to it,
that it may bear fruit in us
when we do your will
and carry out what we are sent to do.
We ask you this through your living Word,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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.
Alleluia Verse
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Prayers of the Faithful
– That God’s word may be echoed in us in our prayers and in the good we do to others, we pray:
– That we may be always close to God’s living Word, Jesus Christ, and that he may be the center of our life, we pray:
– That we may be prayerful people, who pray not only for our personal needs, but also for those of the Church and of the world, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our Father in heaven,
you speak to us your living Word,
your Son, Jesus Christ,
and you give him to us as bread to be eaten.
With him, may we respond to you
with words of prayer in our lips and in our hearts
and with the living words
of our loyal service and love.
May this be our offering to you today
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our Father in heaven,
we praise your holy name,
for speaking to us in the Scriptures
and in your Son, Jesus Christ.
May your Word not return empty to you,
but give us the strength of your Son
to let our deeds speak to you,
that what we have promised and offered in prayer
may become real in our lives.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
God’s word must take shape in our lives. What we have heard, we must live. God’s Son must become visible and speak in what we are and do. May God bless you all for this, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Year of Prayer
In preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year 'Pilgrims of Hope', this year has been designated a Year of Prayer by Pope Francis. The Holy Father announced its launch on Sunday 21 January 2024, on the fifth annual celebration of the ‘Sunday of the Word of God’. In this year of prayer, the pope invites the faithful to pay particular attention to the Lord's Prayer - Our Father, and this presents us with a great opportunity to go back to the basics of prayer.
The Lord's prayer is a catechesis on prayer and gives us a lesson on how to pray. In the early Church, the catechumens directly learned this prayer from the mouth of the bishop and prayed it together as a profession of faith. During the Easter Vigil, they recited it for the first time together with the community after their baptism.
Jesus, by teaching us to call God as “our Father,” wants us to stand before the Father confidently and ask for what we need to live as his sons and daughters. No other religion except Christianity presents God as the Father and Mother of the people.
You can't recite the Lord's Prayer sincerity if you're greedy for possessions, anxious about tomorrow, forgetting the poor, and not caring about social justice. Paraphrasing the Lord’s prayer would mean to say, “Help me, Father, to be content with the necessary, to be free from the bondage of greed and strengthen me to share with the poor.”
Jesus wants us to pray that we must avoid the temptation of abandoning our faith in the loving and merciful Father. Our prayers are not intended to persuade God to change his plans! Prayer does not change God; instead, it opens our minds and changes our hearts.
==========
Matthew 6:7-15
To Pray Is to Speak with the Heart
During this Lenten season, we are reminded of the importance of prayer—not just as a religious obligation but as a living conversation with God. Too often, we reduce prayer to a list of requests, as if we are withdrawing blessings from a divine ATM. But God is not just a giver of favours—He is our companion, Father, and guide.
Genuine prayer involves more than just spoken words; it's a heartfelt dialogue. We need to differentiate between merelyreciting prayers and engaging in true prayer. While saying prayersholds importance, authentic prayer encompasses sharing our liveswith the Lord, being open about our challenges, joys, andaspirations. Regardless of whether we pray silently, through song, or with soft whispers, our hearts should always be connected to God.
Some people often feel, "I just don’t have the time to pray." But if we take a moment to recognize God’s presence in all that we do, our lives can become like a beautiful prayer—filled with the love in our work, our challenges, and even our moments of suffering. When we pray, it’s as if everything sparkles and changes for the better.
Prayer is also the path to forgiveness. We all know how difficult it is to forgive, especially when we have been deeply hurt. Forgiveness requires grace, healing, and spiritual growth. We must bring our wounds before the Lord in prayer for the healing we need. Forgiveness and prayer are inseparable—prayer enables healing and strengthens us to forgive. When we forgive, we find peace.
Let this Lent be a time when we learn to pray with sincerity, with our hearts and our lives.