THE LORD’S PRAYER
OUR FATHER:
We can invoke God as “Father” because he is revealed to us by his Son. When we pray the Our
Father we personally address the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; we recognize
that all His promises are fulfilled in the new and eternal covenant in Jesus
Christ. We have become His people and He is henceforth our God
WHO ART IN HEAVEN:
Heaven does not refer to a place but to God’s majesty and his
presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, the Father’s house, is the true
homeach Street a Cedex six feet6 first floor city share she see's consistency'seland towards which we are heading and to which we already belong.
HALLOWED BE THY NAME:
When we say “hallowed be thy name”, we ask that his Name should be sanctified by us and
in us, and also in every nation and person
THY KINGDOM COME:
Refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God
through Christ’s return. The Kingdom will come in glory when Christ hands it
over to his Father. We also pray for the growth of the Kingdom of God in our
own lives today.
THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN:
We ask
insistently for the will of God (fulfilled in Christ) to be fully realized on
earth as it is already in Heaven.
Jesus teaches us that one enters the Kingdom of Heaven not by
speaking words but by doing the “will of my Father in Heaven.” By prayer and study we can discern “what is the will of God” and obtain the endurance to do
it.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD:
“Bread” refers to the earthly nourishment necessary to everyone for subsistence
and also to the „bread of life‟ that is, the Word of God and the Body
of Christ received in Communion (material and spiritual food).
“This day” not only refers to that of our mortal
time, but also the ‘today’ of God. Even when we have done our work, the food we
receive is still a gift from our Father.
AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US:
Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the
reconciliation of the children of God with their Father and of humans with one
another: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you
do not forgive your brother from your heart”. Matthew 18:35 With the example and help of
Christ every Christian can forgive even his/her enemies.
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION:
We ask God not to allow us to take the way that leads to sin.
We are engaged in the battle between flesh and spirit. This petition implores
the spirit of discernment and strength. The
original wording was (“let us not be led into temptation and deliver wretch
from evil”)
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL:
The last petition to our Father is also included in Jesus’
prayer: “I am not asking you to
take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one”. When we ask to be delivered from the
evil one, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, present, past and future,
of which he is the author or instigator. In this final petition, the Church
brings before the Father all the distress of the world.
CLOSING:
The prayer concludes with a doxology (omitted in the catholic tradition), its three-fold aspect ("Yours is the kingdom", "power and the glory"). Finally, we have the declaration "Forever and ever. Amen". Matthew 6:9-13 KJV