Words, words, words . . .

Homily for Tuesday in the First Week of Lent

Today’s readings ask us to focus our attention on the power of words. First we hear from the prophet Isaiah who reminds us in this very brief oracle that God’s word is powerful. It is in the Scriptures that we learn that God created simply by saying, “Let there be light.”

The gospel for today also asks us to ponder the power of words. We are all probably familiar with the old adage that says that brevity is the soul of wit. As a matter of fact, it seems that answers get longer when one doesn’t know the answer to the question. Somehow we have come to the conclusion that a heap of words will hide the fact that we really have nothing to say.

How perfectly this applies to the practice of prayer. It is exactly what Jesus himself tells us. Do not prattle on like the pagans, who mistakenly imagine that by wave upon mindless wave of words they will somehow smash their way into the kingdom. Jesus begs us to leave behind the grandiose words that we are ready to launch and to simply speak humbly and simply.

In place of all those windy words, perhaps an Our Father or two will do the job. It is, after all, the prayer Jesus himself left us. And maybe like the holy man from Assisi, who walked 10 miles one day and managed a single Our Father along the way, we might muse on those few words that Jesus strung together when he first uttered them. Not forgetting, of course, that the forgiveness we ask of the father depends on our willingness to share it with others.