The Our Father, the prayer that Jesus Himself has taught us, in order that we might pray to His Father and our Father, has been called by many “a summary of the entire Gospel.” This year, as we read this Sunday’s Gospel within the context of the Year of Mercy, it seems appropriate that we might even call the Our Father a summary of God’s mercy towards all of us.

All of this Sunday’s readings speak to us of the kind of intimate prayer life that God invites all of us to have with Him. In the first reading from the book of Genesis, we hear how Abraham speaks to God as a friend, discussing with God how He should conduct Himself in order to be just. Abraham does not even have a name by which He should address God, and yet we see how openly God shares His plans with Him and allows Him to offer his opinion. God desires that all of us speak to Him honestly and sincerely about our difficulties and concerns. The first reading shows us that we do not need to speak to God in formal and set ways. We can bring to Him whatever is on our hearts. The Psalm also makes this clear by the simple statement: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.” We can turn to the Lord whenever we wish, He will always be there.

The extent that God will go to have a relationship with us is the subject of the second reading from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians. Jesus won forgiveness of our sins for us by dying on the cross. By His death, the gates of Heaven were once again opened and we were all reconciled to the Father. God loves us so much, that He does not want us to go through a similar experience. Rather He shares with us Christ’s victory over death by the simple act of baptism, by which we die and rise with Him. God’s mercy is so great that He wishes to share His life with us. So much does He love us that He goes to the lengths of sending His Son to die for us that we might share in His resurrection.

That God desires to share His life with us is the reality that is at the heart of the Our Father. Abraham was not given a name by which he could address God. Moses, who saw God face to face, was only told that the name of God was “I am.” Not only does Jesus tell us the name by which He calls God, but He tells us that we are to call His Father, “our Father.” Jesus shares His Father with us. He makes us family. In the Gospel as He tells us how we are to pray, Jesus makes it clear that our heavenly Father wishes to hear our prayers and respond to them as a good and loving Father. So much does God desire to share His life with us, that as a result of our being open to His presence in our lives, He will send us His Holy Spirit that we might truly be one with Him and His love for us.

We are all so familiar with the Our Father that sometimes we can forget what a powerful and beautiful prayer it is; books have been written about what it says and reveals to us about God. It reveals to us the name that we are told to call the creator by His Son and reminds us that He who has made us to dwell with Him for all eternity dwells in Heaven and that this is ultimately our true homeland. The prayer itself contains seven petitions. The first three of these carries us toward God, for His own sake— thy name, thy kingdom, thy will. The second four implore the Father’s mercy by asking His help to remove whatever obstacles may stand in the way of our reaching Him. They ask: give us, forgive us, lead us not, and deliver us. Again, the use of the words “our” and “us” reminds us that Jesus has come to save all persons as a community or family.

There is a lot that could be said about each petition contained in the Our Father. For those who would like to read a beautiful commentary on the Our Father, the Catechism of the Catholic Church concludes with a beautiful commentary on this prayer at the end of the fourth section on prayer. It is really worth reading if you wish to deepen in a real understanding of this prayer that was taught to us by our Saviour. However, for the sake of time today, I thought I would just share with you a summary of that commentary. It comes from the last nine articles of the Catechism. They are:

2857* In the Our Father, the object of the first three petitions is the glory of the Father: the sanctification of his name, the coming of the kingdom, and the fulfillment of his will. The four others present our wants to him: they ask that our lives be nourished, healed of sin, and made victorious in the struggle of good over evil.

2858* By asking “hallowed be thy name” we enter into God’s plan, the sanctification of his name – revealed first to Moses and then in Jesus – by us and in us, in every nation and in each man.

2859* By the second petition, the Church looks first to Christ’s return and the final coming of the Reign of God. It also prays for the growth of the Kingdom of God in the “today” of our own lives.

2860* In the third petition, we ask our Father to unite our will to that of his Son, so as to fulfill his plan of salvation in the life of the world.

2861* In the fourth petition, by saying “give us,” we express in communion with our brethren our filial trust in our heavenly Father. “Our daily bread” refers to the earthly nourishment necessary to everyone for subsistence, and also to the Bread of Life: the Word of God and the Body of Christ. It is received in God’s “today,” as the indispensable, (super-) essential nourishment of the feast of the coming Kingdom anticipated in the Eucharist.

2862* The fifth petition begs God’s mercy for our offences, mercy which can penetrate our hearts only if we have learned to forgive our enemies, with the example and help of Christ.

2863* When we say “lead us not into temptation” we are asking God not to allow us to take the path that leads to sin. This petition implores the Spirit of discernment and strength; it requests the grace of vigilance and final perseverance.

2864* In the last petition, “but deliver us from evil,” Christians pray to God with the Church to show forth the victory, already won by Christ, over the “ruler of this world,” Satan, the angel personally opposed to God and to his plan of salvation.

2865* By the final “Amen,” we express our “fiat” concerning the seven petitions: “So be it.”

The clearest example of the way in which God the Father wishes to share His life with us through our praying of this prayer is what we do every time that we come to Mass. Jesus tells us that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who persist in praying this prayer. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ comes to dwell with us in the Eucharist, so that we may already be united with Him in His kingdom. This is why we pray the Our Father just before we receive the Eucharist as the Lord is present with us on the altar. Through His mercy, God sends His Son to be with us and shares with us His real presence. Here we receive Him who is our true daily bread and are led to add that part of the prayer which is a liturgical addition: “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.”

Amen.

Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor, St, Peter’s Parish— Toronto.

*  These numbers indicate the paragraph numbers in the Catechism  from which these articles have been taken.