The Our Father
The Lord’s Prayer takes a mere 15-20 seconds to say yet is filled with incredible meaning. St. Cyprian of Carthage, a third century bishop, wrote “… the Lord’s Prayer contains many great mysteries of our faith. In these few words there is great spiritual strength, for this summary of divine teaching contains all of our prayers and petitions.”
We start by professing our core religious belief that God is our heavenly Father. Jesus didn’t instruct us to say, “My Father” but stressed “Our Father.” Scripture scholar John Meier explains that in God’s kingdom, we don’t live as isolated individuals but “we experience God’s fatherhood as members of the church, the family of Jesus the Son.” This reminds us that we must recognize all those around us as children of God and treat them accordingly.
With “hallowed be Thy name,” we are not only telling God “I recognize that You are holy,” but more importantly, we’re asking that His name be recognized by everyone throughout the world as the ultimate holy power—that one day (sooner rather than later) all will know Him to be righteous, powerful, and everyone’s one true God.
“Thy Kingdom come” has a two-fold meaning. First, we are asking that God’s kingdom (where there’s only goodness, honesty, and love for one another) surrounds us in our everyday life. Secondly, we are praying for the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise that He will return at the end of time and grant us eternal life.
“Thy will be done” asks for God’s grace to move us to do His will throughout our life. That means doing all the things that will please our Father — even the most difficult things. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops says, “In committing ourselves to [Christ], we can become one spirit with Him, and thereby accomplish His will…”
When we ask, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we recognize that all things we need come to us from God. We’re asking that God continue to give us not only the food we need for nourishment, but also the Bread of Life, the Eucharist.
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” is a tough one. It may be easy to ask God to forgive us our “trespasses” or sins, but He teaches us that in order for Him to forgive our wrongdoings, we must first forgive those who’ve hurt us, for when there is bitterness and anger in our hearts, there’s no room for His love. How can we ask God to be merciful and forgive our sins, if we’re holding a grudge or refuse to forgive someone who’s wronged us? Forgiving someone is often easier said than done and only God can give us the strength to do it.
“Lead us not into temptation.” Temptation and sin go hand in hand. When we come face to face with temptation, it can sometimes be difficult to resist. That’s why we need our Father to set up the roadblocks and lead us far from the path of temptation.
“Deliver us from evil.” Evil is an unfortunate reality in our world. The devil is always trying to tempt us and makes it his full-time job to look for ways to steer us from the right path and onto the wrong one. The devil has no power over God and when we pray to God for protection against all that is evil, He will shield us — always.
If ever there was a prayer that summarizes our faith and what’s expressed in the Gospels in a few short lines, the Our Father is it. So, the next time we pray “Our Father …” consider what we are really saying and mean it with our whole heart.
- Deacon Ed Herrera