my dad loves me
"Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. This is how you are to pray: 'Our Father...' " —Matthew 6:8-9
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert where the devil questioned whether He was God the Father's beloved Son (see Mt 3:17; 4:3, 6). Jesus overcame these temptations, and the Holy Spirit cried out in Jesus' heart: "Abba" (Father) (Gal 4:6; Rm 8:15).
This Lent, as we imitate Jesus' forty-day desert fast, we also wish to emerge from the Lenten desert confirmed by the Spirit in our Father's love for us. On Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday, at every Mass in every Catholic Church in the world, the Church will ask us the question, "Do you believe in God the Father?" If we've had a good Lent, we will answer that question "I do." With unprecedented conviction, we will proclaim that we know that our Father loves us as His adopted sons and daughters.
In this first week of Lent, have you already begun to be confirmed in your Father's love for you? Is the prayer of your heart, "Our Father Who art in heaven"? (see Mt 6:9) Are your secret almsgiving, praying, and fasting resulting in God the Father making no secret of His love for you as His child? Lent is about knowing our Father's love. Let Abba love you.
Prayer: Abba, I trust You.
Promise: "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but shall do My will, achieving the end for which I sent it." —Is 55:11
Praise: To Katharine, the Eucharist was her life, so she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
Reference: (Easter is approaching. To help prepare for it, order our leaflets, Through The New Testament in Easter, and Risen Life, and our Simple Reading Guide to the New Testament and to Luke and Acts.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, July 26, 1997
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 29, 1997