13 March 2025 - Thursday of the 1st week of Lent
Homily
The prayer of Queen Esther, which we heard in the first reading, is certainly one of the most beautiful prayers in the Old Testament. It is full of trust in God and faithfulness to the faith of the people of Israel. But we are still a long way from a Christian prayer. Esther is on the point of meeting King to try to save her people, and she asks God to put ‘kindness’ into the king's heart. in the king's heart ‘hatred for our enemy, that he and all who are with him may perish’.
Christian prayer, as described by Jesus to his disciples, is quite different. There is no room for hatred in such a prayer. prayer, because Jesus asks his disciples to love their neighbors, even their enemies, as themselves. This precept sums up all the Law and the Prophets, says Jesus. What's more, Jesus describes a very important dimension of love for one's enemies: ‘whatever you want men to do for you, do it. to do for you, you yourselves must do for them’. It's very simple; it's also very demanding!
It is to the very extent that we apply this fundamental principle that we can approach God with confidence. This confidence is described in the following formula: ‘Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. and it will be opened to you. For everyone who For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
The foundation of such confidence lies in the fact that God's attitude towards us is that of a loving father. If even men, who are sinners give good things to their children, how much more will God not give his own children what they ask for with confidence?
So let us not be content, in our prayer ask the Lord for good things for ourselves ; but with a heart full of the same love that God has for all, let us also pray for all our brothers and sisters.
Armand Veilleux