A remarkable invitation
In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray in words that most of us learned as children; words that are so familiar to Christians that we perhaps sometimes recite them out of habit, without truly reflecting on the many graces that accompany them.
Right from the beginning, Jesus asks us to address God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, as “our Father.” Not as Almighty Lord of All, but as our Father. Not as Christ’s Father but as our Father. What a remarkable invitation we are given by our Savior: an invitation to share in the intimacy of a familial bond of love with God — our Father!
These two simple words also call us to another dimension of the Divine Love, for even when we are alone, we pray not to my Father, but to our Father, and by so doing affirm our commitment to love our neighbor as ourselves, a love which Christ assures us is the same as our love for God.
When we pray to our Father, we pray at the same time for and with one another.
When we further ask that God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, we are not asking Him simply to exercise His own power. We are asking instead for the grace to be conformed to His will. As Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, founder of the Society of St Vincent de Paul explained, we seek to do His will neither reluctantly, nor by compulsion, but rather, “as it is in Heaven, with the love and the joy of angels.”
We offer our complete trust in our Father when we ask Him for our daily bread while at the same time asking with confidence to be judged according to how we judge the neighbor. This point, in particular, Jesus re-emphasizes after reciting the words of the prayer, promising us the Father’s forgiveness on the condition that we offer our own forgiveness to each other. What an amazing commission, and what an awesome duty!
We seek to join in God’s infinite mercy by forgiving one another.
In this season of Lent, let us offer the simple words of the Lord’s Prayer, but let us offer them more deeply, more intentionally, and with a special commitment to sharing our daily bread, our forgiveness, and our love with the Father and with one another.
Timothy P. Williams is Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development for the Society of St Vincent de Paul in the United States.