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9. “In this manner therefore shall you pray: “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name” (Mt 6:9).

 This is our immeasurable Treasure that to each of us belongs Our Eternal Father Who is Being, Who exists in perfect happiness, and Who continues to call us into being and to sustain us in being.  Jesus tells us to begin our prayer this way because Our Father is our origin and goal and there is nothing that we could pray for or receive that would not be His Gift.  Also due to the intellectual density caused in us by original sin and its consequences, we often forget where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going.  Addressing Our Father by Name in this way helps to reorient us back to Reality.  As St. John Paul II explained this, “The key for interpreting reality is that original sin attempts to abolish fatherhood”  (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, pg. 228).  Once we realize that our battle lies in maintaining, protecting, and growing in our relationship with Our Father in Heaven, it becomes easier to stop fretting about the thousands of other things which strive to occupy our attention.

8. “But in praying, do not multiply words, as the Gentiles do; for they think that by saying a great deal, they will be heard.  So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Mt 6:7-8).

 

Our ever attentive Father

Who called us

Out of nothingness

Into Being and Communion;

Whose air we breathe

In and out incessantly;

Whose plants and animals we eat;

Whose water, milk, and wine we drink;

Whose beautiful creation we see;

Whose Words of Life we hear;

Whose scent of flowers we enjoy;

Whose Beloved Son

We touch in one another;  (Mt 25:40);

He, Who each day is

Our delicious Communion;

Our ever attentive Father

Seeks worshippers in Spirit and Truth (Jn 4:23);

And knows what we need,

Before we ask Him.

6. “But when thou prayest, go into thy room, and closing thy door, pray to thy Father in secret;” (Mt 6:6a).

 While we cannot always physically enter a private room to pray, we can always enter our hearts and privately meet the Lord there.  To do this we must first enter that interior space, then shut the door of our intellect to our myriad preoccupations, and recall the secret Presence of our Heavenly Father.  We must learn to love silence; otherwise the door will be open and distractions will rush in to invade our private prayer.  St. Ignatius used to counsel his Jesuit brothers to begin their daily examen by taking a moment to become aware of the Father’s personal Love for them.  This is very important; otherwise we will be tempted to try to earn His Love by reminding Him of our various accomplishments or the prayers we have prayed, etc.  We cannot earn His Love; it is a Gift.  Awareness of the Father is the beginning of prayer.  We are sons in the Son.  “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying,  ‘Abba, Father’” (Gal 4:6).

5. (Mt 6:4) “But when thou givest alms, do not let thy left hand know what thy right hand is doing, so that they alms may be given in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, will reward thee.”

 Everything we have to give as alms, and even the urge to give alms are gifts from our Heavenly Father.  But we are still hiding from Our Father “among the trees” (Gen 3:8) and trying to cover our nakedness with fig leaves (Gen 3:7).  Because we are made in His Image, we are inclined to imitate Our Father (Who is Self-Giving Love) by giving alms.  But we have forgotten Our Source because acknowledging Him requires acknowledging our nakedness and dependence on Him.  So we want our action of giving alms to make us appear beautifully clothed, godlike, and independent in the eyes of other people.  Part of this charade is convincing ourselves of our own independent goodness which is why Jesus says, “Do not let thy left hand know what thy right hand is doing” (Mt 6:3).  Rather than acting “in order to be seen” (Mt 6:1) by others, we should act to be seen by Our Heavenly Father “Who sees in secret” (Mt 6:6) and Who loves us totally despite our naked sinfulness.  He has prepared new “garments of skin” (Gen 3:21) for us, desiring to clothe us in His Beloved Son, Jesus (Gal 3:27) and “with Power from on High” (Lk 24:49).

4. (Mt 6:1) “Take heed not to do your good before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you shall have no reward with your Father in heaven.”

 Earlier in the same Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had said, “Let your light shine before men, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven” (Mt 5:14).  The difference is in the motive and in the result.  In both cases good works are being done openly, but we have a choice to do our good works to glorify the Father (since we are unable to do anything good except by His Gift), or to glorify ourselves (by trying to get other people to notice our goodness).

The fact is that just as we frequently misjudge the motives of others, so they frequently misjudge ours.  Even if it were possible to get people to notice and think that we are good, it is very silly to try to do so, because we have no goodness either in being or action except what we have received from Our Father.  So glorifying ourselves is a form of lying which leaves us sad and disconnected.  On the other hand if we do good in order to praise Our Father and to lead others to recognize His Goodness, then we are filled with joy because “One there is Who is good, and He is God” (Mt 19:16).  This joy is the “reward that we receive from Our Father in Heaven” (Mt 6:1) because when we let our light shine before men in order to glorify Him, our souls also are illuminated with a deeper awareness of the Father and His magnificent Love (which is the origin and goal of our existence).