LENT: GETTING TO THE
HEART OF THINGS +++++++++
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As Lent begins Jesus teaches us how to pray
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“Don’t
babble on. Get to the heart of things.”
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Turn to
Abba, the one who sent me”
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Say, “Your
kingdom come; your will be done”
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Say, “I
trust you”
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Say, “Give
me each day what you know I need”
JOHN & PAUL +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Although John the Baptist exclaimed upon seeing
Jesus, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand,” Jesus still urged his disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come”
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St. Paul said that the kingdom is “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Spirit”
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So the kingdom requires us to fill in the human
reality of what God has mysteriously begun
ECKHART ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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For people struggling with compulsions over
where to begin or how to get it right, Meister Eckhart’s advice is helpful
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“God
expects but one thing of you – that you should come out of yourself in so far
as you are a created being and let God be God in you”
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Put simply, “Look
away from yourself and look to God”
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As long as you focus on yourself, you will find
reason after reason why you aren’t loveable or attractive or worth much to
anybody
THE MARVEL +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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If you turn your gaze to the Father, you will
see this marvel
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God is offering you “daily bread,” forgiveness
and love
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You will see yourself being loved
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This is how we exit the domain of
self-preoccupation and enter the Kingdom of God
CONCLUSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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This is how we learn to stop babbling
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This is how we learn that our Father knows what
we need even before we ask
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