Every day of Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click HERE for the readings.
Today, Jesus teaches us how to pray by giving us the Lord’s Prayer.
Many have observed that the Lord’s Prayer is the perfect prayer. It comes directly from Jesus himself and places us in a loving relationship with God as children of the Father. It honors God’s holy name and directs our hearts toward the greatest of all gifts—the coming of God’s Kingdom. It reminds us that God’s will must come before our own desires.
In the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to give us our daily bread, which points us toward the Eucharist and, by extension, every blessing we need for life to be sustained. This prayer humbles us, teaching us to ask for forgiveness in the same measure that we forgive others. And through this prayer we seek God’s protection, asking to be delivered from temptation and preserved from evil.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer often. Pray it from the heart. God will not fail to hear and respond. It truly is the perfect prayer. Ask yourself: Do I make space each day to pray this great prayer with devotion, from the heart, and meaning every word of it?