The Lord’s Prayer “Our Father!”

March 7,2013 St. Thomas More RCIA

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in

heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Praying and Living

the Our Father

When His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, Jesus taught us the perfect prayer, the Our Father (see Matthew 6.9-15).

This prayer is the summary of the Gospel and the relationship of God with His people.

St. Teresa of Jesus praised this prayer: “The sublimity of the perfection of this evangelical prayer is something for which we should give great praise to the Lord. So well composed by the good Master was it, that each of us may use it in their own way.” (Way of Perfection, 37.1)

The Our Father is used throughout the liturgies of the Church; it is the hallmark prayer of Christianity.

*Discuss the meaning of the words to the Our Father. Index Cards

Three Versions and Seven Petitions

Three versions of the Our Father date from apostolic times. The shortest, and perhaps closest to Jesus’ actual words, is found in Luke 11:1-14. Matthew’s longer version (6:9- 13) is the basis of the formula we pray today. The first-century Didache, a work that has been called “the first catechism,” adds “for yours are the power and the glory forever. The Apostolic Constitutions, another ancient document, inserts “the kingdom.” This seems to be a direct reference to 1 Chronicles 29: 11-13 – the praise of David at the dedication of the temple gifts. It is thought that the phrase was probably added by the early church as a faithful response during worship. After Vatican II, Pope Paul VI, inspired by the Apostolic Constitutions, introduced the phrase into the Roman Missal, linking it with the recitation of the Our Father during liturgy. The Our Father can be said to sum up all that we believe and hope for. It consists of an address (“Our Father”) and two sets of petitions. The first set focuses on the action of God as Father and the coming of God’s kingdom (praise before

petitions). The second set of petitions focuses on our needs and fears as they are met by the action of God. For a wonderful explanation and interpretation of the Our Father, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2759 - 2865)

Catechism of the Catholic Church The Lord’s Prayer

The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is "of the Lord." On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him:13 he is the master of our prayer.

On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer. (2765)

The Sermon on the Mount is teaching for life, the Our Father is a prayer; but in both the one and the other the Spirit of the Lord gives new form to our desires, those inner movements that animate our lives. Jesus teaches us this new life by his words; he teaches us to ask for it by our prayer. The rightness of our life in him will depend on the rightness of our prayer.

The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers. . . . In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.12 (2764)

THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

According to the apostolic tradition, the Lord's Prayer is essentially rooted in liturgical prayer:

[The Lord] teaches us to make prayer in common for all our brethren. For he did not say "my Father" who art in heaven, but "our" Father, offering petitions for the common body.19 In all the liturgical traditions, the Lord's Prayer is an integral part of the major hours of the Divine Office. In the three sacraments of Christian initiation its ecclesial character is especially in evidence:

In Baptism and Confirmation, the handing on (traditio) of the Lord's Prayer signifies new birth into the divine life. For the seal of the Holy Spirit's anointing is indelibly placed on their hearts, ears, lips, indeed their whole filial being. (2769)

In the Eucharistic liturgy the Lord's Prayer appears as the prayer of the whole Church and there reveals its full meaning and efficacy. Placed between the anaphora (the Eucharistic prayer) and the communion, the Lord's Prayer sums up on the one hand all the petitions and intercessions expressed in the movement of the epiclesis and, on the other, knocks at the door of the Banquet of the kingdom which sacramental communion anticipates. 2770

In the Eucharist, the Lord's Prayer also reveals the eschatological character of its petitions. It is the proper prayer of "the end-time," the time of salvation that began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will be fulfilled with the Lord's return. The petitions addressed to our Father, as distinct from the prayers of the old covenant, rely on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, once for all, in Christ crucified and risen. 2771

The Seven Petitions

• 2803After we have placed ourselves in the presence of God our Father to adore and to love and to bless him, the Spirit of adoption stirs up in our hearts seven petitions, seven blessings. The first three, more theological, draw us toward the glory of the Father; the last four, as ways toward him, commend our sinfulness to his grace. "Deep calls to deep."63

• 2804 The first series of petitions carries us toward him, for his own sake: thy name, thy kingdom, thy will! It is characteristic of love to think first of the one whom we love. In none of the three petitions do we mention ourselves; the burning desire, even anguish, of the beloved Son for his Father's glory seizes us:64 "hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. . . . " These three supplications were already answered in the saving sacrifice of Christ, but they are henceforth directed in hope toward their final fulfillment, for God is not yet all in all.65

• 2805 The second series of petitions unfolds with the same movement as certain Eucharistic epicleses: as an offering up of our expectations, that draws down upon itself the eyes of the Father of mercies. They go up from us and concern us from this very moment, in our present world: "give us . . . forgive us . . . lead us not . . . deliver us. . . . " The fourth and fifth petitions concern our life as such - to be fed and to be healed of sin; the last two concern our battle for the victory of life - that battle of prayer.

• 2806 By the three first petitions, we are strengthened in faith, filled with hope, and set aflame by charity. Being creatures and still sinners, we have to petition for us, for that "us" bound by the world and history, which we offer to the boundless love of God. For through the name of his Christ and the reign of his Holy Spirit, our Father accomplishes his plan of salvation, for us and for the whole world.

• After the initial address to the Father, the prayer itself is composed of seven petitions. There are three “thy-petitions” (thy name, thy kingdom, thy will) followed by four “us-petitions” (give us, forgive us, lead us not and deliver us). In order to better understand the Lord’s Prayer, it is important to briefly examine each petition.

• “Our Father, who art in heaven…” When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he did not teach them to pray “My Father,” but rather “Our Father.” This reminds us that we are God’s sons and daughters together in Christ, not as isolated individuals. It is only as the body of Christ that we can pray to God as Father. When we call God “Father,” it is a reminder for us to live as children in relation with God. In teaching us to call God “Father,” Jesus also tells us that we have the privilege to call God by the same name he used in his intimate relationship with the Father.

How the Our Father is Composed

• “Hallowed be thy name…” In the first petition, we are asking that God’s name would be “hallowed” or sanctified. Objectively speaking, God’s name is already holy, but the prayer is asking that God make his name holy to all people through his works and deeds. (See Ezekiel 36:22-27.)

• “Thy kingdom come…” The second petition has a twofold meaning. First, we are praying for the coming of the kingdom of God here and now in our everyday lives. At the same time, we are also praying for Christ’s glorious return at the end of time and the final coming of the reign of God.

• “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” The third petition asks God that our will be conformed to his divine will. When Jesus was praying to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, he also used the words “thy will be done.” When we pray “thy will be done” we commit ourselves to following Jesus by taking up our cross.

• “Give us this day, our daily bread…” In the fourth petition, “give us” expresses our trust in our heavenly Father. “Our daily bread” refers to our earthly nourishment that is necessary to physically sustain us throughout the day and the Bread of Life (the Word of God and the Body of Christ) that spiritually nourishes us. As Catholics, we are privileged to receive the “Bread of Life” daily in the Mass.

• “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…” In the fifth petition, we beg for God’s mercy for the times that we have fallen short of loving God and loving our neighbour. We acknowledge that the Father’s mercy and forgiveness are able to penetrate our hearts to the extent that we are able to forgive our enemies.

• “Lead us not into temptation…” Some people wonder why we would ask God not to lead us into temptation. The letter of St. James clearly says that God does not tempt us with evil(James 1:13). Therefore, in this petition, we are asking that God does not allow us to take the path that leads to sin. We are praying to avoid the near occasion of sin.

• “But deliver us from evil…” Closely tied to the previous prayer, in this final petition, we are asking God to protect us from evil. The Catechism teaches that the “evil” in this petition is not an abstract evil, but actually “refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God” (CCC, 2851). While we acknowledge the reality of the devil, we place our trust in Christ and his definitive victory over evil on the cross.

• “Amen!” After praying all of these petitions, we end by affirming our belief in all that we have prayed by saying “Amen” or “So be it!”

• Why do some Christians add a line at the end of the Our Father? Some Christians pray, “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours for ever,” immediately at the end of the Our Father. While this line was not included in the prayer recorded by the Gospels, it was included in The Didache, a first or second century writing that summarizes much of the teaching of the apostles. Catholics pray this line during the liturgy, but only after a prayer by the priest, in order to honour the tradition while also maintaining the traditional prayer included in the Gospels.

ANDREA BOCELLI OUR FATHER (LIVE)

http://youtu.be/aEplqV0scyo

Panis Angelicus

http://youtu.be/rHKQYFgkcB8

Ave Maria

http://youtu.be/pwp1CH5R-w4

• Notes and References:

• http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s2.htm

• www.janetschaeffler.com/Praying_and_Living_the_Our_Father.pdf

• http://prayer.littleway.ca/the-our-father

• http://clarionherald.info/clarion/index.php/special-sections/year-of-renewal-the-mass/1085-explaining-the-seven-petitions-of-the-our-father

• www.loyolapress.com/our-father