7/24/2022

This weekend in our passage from Luke, Jesus teaches us to pray. In particular, he presents the Our Father. In Luke’s version, there are five petitions. In Matthew’s version (Mt 6:9-13) there are seven petitions. The latter is the one we use in our liturgy, and the one I will discuss today. The seven petitions are:
I. Hallowed be Thy Name
II. Thy Kingdom Come
III. Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven
IV. Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
V. And Forgive Us Our Trespasses, as We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us
VI. And Lead Us Not into Temptation
VII. But Deliver Us from Evil
The first three petitions are about glorifying the Father in His Name, His Kingdom, and His will. The last four petitions are about our wants/needs from Him: nourishment, healing/forgiveness from sin, and victory over evil. Before commenting on the petitions, I would like to say something about the first line, “Our Father who art in heaven.”
First of all, the word “Our” is significant. We do not say, “My Father” or “Your Father,” but “Our Father.” It defines our relationship with God as intimate, as Father-daughter or Father-son. That implies that we are all sons and daughters – as the saying goes, God has no grandchildren. Having the same Father implies we are all brothers and sisters. This is what happens at Baptism when we are brought into the Body of Christ, incorporated into the family of the Trinity. It is a reality that we have to grow into, realizing its implications, learning to see one another as brothers and sisters in the Spirit. For this reason at Mass I try to be predictable in my introduction of the Our Father so that ALL of us can join in together, beginning with the word “Our.” It is a sign of inclusivity, of our being one in Christ, sons and daughters of the Father, united by our baptism in Christ. We are not slaves, but family. We are not distant from God, but intimately related in and through Christ. After witnessing Christ become present in the bread and wine through the Holy Spirit, and praying that the Holy Spirit make us into one body, we express our unity in anticipation of our receiving the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ in the Eucharistic bread. It is a precious moment in the Mass.
We also say, “Who art in heaven.” Heaven is not located so much a place or a time. It is the participation in the life of the Trinity. Our Father lives as a member of the Trinity, giving himself from all eternity and for all eternity to the Son, who gives himself back to the Father in love for all eternity, bound together in love by the Holy Spirit. Being intimately related to the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit incorporates us into this community of love. It is dynamic, it is devoid of sin, death, and evil, and it is that which we long for more than anything else: union with God. It is this union to which Jesus has given us access by His becoming man, suffering, dying, rising, and ascending to the Father. It is Christ who makes it possible for us to say, “Our Father.”
It is a joy to be your pastor.

Father Albert, O.S.B