Lenten reflection, day 6

Scripture readings for today: Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 34; Matthew 6:7-15

For many people, to pray means asking for something: health, success, a relationship, etc. But for Jesus, to pray is to seek to be a son or daughter of God who remains always in His sight.

If we are looking for intimacy with God, words are unnecessary. The Father already knows all our needs.

I remember once hearing a baby cry from an outside room. The father called the mother to the kitchen, saying, “The baby is hungry.” Babies cry because they are hungry, cold, in pain, or lonely. The father knew how to read that particular cry as one of hunger.

How? The dad’s intimate love for his child revealed everything about the baby. And your Heavenly Father knows very well how to read the cries of His sons and daughters.

At a retreat I remember seeing an elderly sister who spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament. She didn’t move her lips. She didn’t need to. Being the daughter of the Father—a daughter who loved just looking at Him—was enough.

This is why Jesus appreciates the Our Father, which teaches us to look first to God (Your name, Your kingdom, Your will) and only then to ask for our daily bread.

Praying is seeking intimacy with the God who loves us. Having this means having everything.

Father Ruskin Piedra, C.Ss.R.
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Download our 2015 Daily Lenten Devotions booklet here.