Dear Friends,
A group of catechists and adults from a few parishes took 130 youth to the Holy Land for twelve days. Aside from the natural beauty and holiness of the place where Jesus Christ spent his years, mostly hidden, was the sincerity of the youth in their trials of life, often very serious. When one girl opened up about losing her virginity at a young age many others followed, explaining how they felt ‘used’ by this experience and the sadness and depression it caused them in their young lives. Usually a search for affection and love led them into this situation and often triggered by an absent father or some family problem. Don’t think this was a very unusual group of kids. I think they represent very well the situation of youth today and how much we need to pray for them and look for ways for them to speak and receive forgiveness for these sins. Their courage in speaking and bringing this to the light will save them and help them to heal in time.
The gospel today is striking in the sense that the disciples saw how the Lord prayed and they wanted to do the same. Jesus teaches them not just a ‘prayer’ but a way or manner of praying. First of all, Jesus speaks as a son to his father, his daddy, the one who loves him. And asks that we consider his name to be holy and powerful, hallowed be thy name, in our lives!! He’s not asking to make his name holy, it already is. But to be holy for me and you and that his kingdom be a reality for us. When the Lord speaks of his kingdom he speaks of himself. If we have him, we have the kingdom!
Give us today our daily bread is easily misunderstood as asking for bread or material means for the day, only. St. Jerome, a great.linguist and translator of the Bible, said in Latin give us this ‘panem supersubstiantialem’ this supersubstantial bread. He not just asking the Father for food or material things. He is teaching them and us for the ‘bread’ that has a new substance. It looks and tastes like bready but is really his Body and his Blood. This is the true nourishment that transforms us, heals us and leads us to cling to him, as the youth were doing on this recent pilgrimage.
And the core of the prayer and of Jesus’ teaching is the forgiveness of sins, of all of our sins, which only he can do. When we ask forgiveness of someone it is for a particular action or judgment committed against them. But the Lord is forgiving all our sins which were against Him and his plan for us. And hopefully you have had this experience which ought to lead you to be merciful to others.
I very much like the reading for the feast of St. Mary Magdalen on Friday. St. Gregory the Great said that Mary went to the tomb, found it empty and went to tell the disciples. They believed, saw it and returned to the Upper Room. But Mary stayed there and wept and longed for the One taken away. So the one who stayed behind was the only one to see him. Perseverance is crucial in prayer. Mary recognizes Him when he calls her by her name and responds by calling him, Master. He’s the Master who taught her to seek, to search and to find, which is exactly what she did. Our sins, especially bigger ones, lead us to the Lord and can be the ‘happy fault’ we celebrate every Easter.