Prayer: a communication of the Heart (HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT
Homily for Tuesday of the 1st week of Lent Isaiah 55:10-11; Ps.34; Matt. 6:7-15 Theme: Prayer: a communication of the Heart Prayer is a communication between God and man. A common vehicle for communication is words. So in prayer, we communicate to God and vice versa using words. But in the gospel reading of today, Jesus, trying to teach His disciples how to pray well, admonished them not to heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do. He went on to mention that they gentiles use many words in prayer but these words seem not appreciated in the sight of God. Why? Jesus clearly noted that the plenty words used by the gentiles are empty phrases. This means that the problem with the words is not their many number but their emptiness. But how does words become empty? Words become empty when they do not come from the heart. In prayer, when we are absentminded such that the words we address to God are not emanating from our hearts, then such words are empty. This is because prayer is more of...