Thursday in First Week of Lent, March 1, 2007, Lectionary #228

Scripture: Esther C 12:14-16,23-25; Psalm 138:1-3,7-8. Matthew 7:7-12

Often we can see the theme of the liturgical readings during this Lenten
season in the three principal devotional actions of prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving. These, of course, are present in the Sermon on the Mount and
that is what many of the selections from Matthew are taken from during
Lent. We have an example of that today and it shows us proper dispositions
for prayer. The first reading from Esther is a remarkable prayer. It is a
personal example of a beautiful queen of Israel named Hadassah or Esther
(Star) prays from the depth of her heart to God. This shows us how we
should pray especially during times of great difficulties in our lives.
She models for us the cry of the poor or the 'Anawim. Her prayer is
similar to the individual psalms wherein a poor person cries out for help
knowing that God alone can really help that person. The 'Anawim of Yahweh
or the Poor of God place all their trust in God, confident that God alone
who is present in the Temple can help them. No one else can help them and
they know it so they pray and cry out and lament. I think Jesus means such
persons when he speaks of them saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
And this blessing is the opening of the beatitudes found in both Matthew
and Luke. Esther is one of the persons poor in spirit as she cries out,
"Save us by your power, and help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O Lord. You know all things." Jesus is also emphasizing the need for
prayer in our lives and wants us to be among those who pray like the
'Anawim, the Poor of God. Mary, his mother, gives us the example of how to
do this in her Maginificat (Luke 1:46-56) which is similar to a psalm.
Jesus tells us to ask, to knock, to persist in such prayer and the Lord
will answer, open the door of mercy, and sustain us in our needs. Jesus
assures us by saying if we know how to do good to our children, friends and
neighbors, how much moreso does God do this. He says, ..."how much more,
will your heavenly Father give good things to anyone who asks him." Lent
is a season of such prayer especially in the liturgy and its readings. We
are to take on the spirit of the poor of God and pray as they do, loving
God with one's whole soul, mind, and person. We abandon ourselves into the
loving arms of our Father in heaven knowing that He cares for us more than
we do for ourselves. We pray with today's psalm response from verse 3 of
Psalm 138: "Lord, on the day I cried for help, you answered me." Amen.