20190312
WHY
THE “OUR FATHER” IS CALLED THE LORD’S PRAYER
12 MARCH, 2019,
Tuesday, 1st Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
|
First reading
|
Isaiah 55:10-11 ©
|
|
The word that goes out from my mouth
does not return to me empty
|
Thus says the Lord: ‘As the rain and the
snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth,
making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for
the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty,
without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 33(34):4-7,16-19 ©
|
The Lord rescues the
just in all their distress.
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his
name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me
free.
The Lord rescues the
just in all their distress.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his
distress.
The Lord rescues the
just in all their distress.
The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance
from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes to the just
and his ears to their appeal.
The Lord rescues the
just in all their distress.
They call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their
distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed
he will save.
The Lord rescues the
just in all their distress.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Mt4:4
|
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
|
Gospel
|
Matthew 6:7-15 ©
|
|
How to pray
|
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your
prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words
they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what
you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have
forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.
‘Yes, if you forgive others their
failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not
forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’
WHY THE “OUR
FATHER” IS CALLED THE LORD’S PRAYER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISA 55:10-11; MT 6:7-15 ]
Why do we call the “Our
Father” the Lord’s Prayer? The
simple answer is that it is formulated by the Lord and taught by Him.
But this in itself cannot motivate us to pray the Lord’s Prayer
meaningfully. As a result, we pray the Lord’s Prayer as a routine,
without much conviction and fervor. We do not understand the full
implications of why we call this prayer, the Lord’s Prayer.
When we say that this is
the Lord’s Prayer, we mean that it is prayer prayed by the Lord Himself. To pray the Lord’s Prayer is to pray the
same prayer that He prayed. And if this is the prayer of the Lord
Himself, surely, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord prays in and through
us. Such prayer from the Lord will surely be heard by our Father.
More importantly, if we
say it is the Lord’s Prayer, it means to say that this prayer expresses the
whole life of Jesus, His mission and His identity, and His attitude towards God
and life. In
this prayer, Jesus expresses His devotion to His Father, that He would do
everything for His greater glory. “Holy be your name” expresses His desire to
glorify the Father by His life. “Your kingdom come. Your will be
done” expresses His desire to serve the Lord by doing the Father’s will.
The whole life of Jesus was to establish the kingdom of His Father.
St John’s gospel has Jesus in His last prayer describing His mission on earth
as glorifying the Father and making His name known and loved. This is
expressed also in the psalm, “Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us
praise his name. I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my terrors he
set me free.”
In praying for the daily
bread, Jesus expresses His total trust in the providence of God. He did not ask for the bread of
tomorrow because He trusted that His Father would provide, since God is His
Father after all. Only because the Father has been faithful to Him,
could He ask us to do the same and trust in His love. The psalmist
expresses this trust when he prayed, “Look towards him and be radiant; let your
faces not be abashed. This poor man called, the Lord heard him and rescued him
from all his distress. They call and the Lord hears and rescues them in all
their distress. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is
crushed he will save.”
Why is the Lord’s Prayer
so efficacious? Because
it is the Lord Himself praying in and through us! The Power of
the Word, as the first reading says, is always efficacious. “As the rain
and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the
earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and
bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me
empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to
do.” Jesus as the Word of God makes this prayer even more
efficacious. This prayer is thus most pleasing to the Father because when
He hears the words of His Son, He is pleased with our prayers. Indeed,
how happy we are when someone quotes our words to prove his point. As
Catholics, we would often quote the Holy Father to substantiate what we want to
say. So too, when we use the words of His Son, the Father is delighted to
hear His Son speaking in and through us.
But for it to be
efficacious, there are three conditions to be observed. It calls for
total receptivity to His grace. This is expressed in the receptivity of His divine
providence. We must be receptive to His will. We
need to trust that His will is His wisdom. Submission to God’s will is to
trust that He, as our Father, will do all that is good for us. In
trusting Him, we will be able to allow the grace of God to work in and through
us. Very often, because we resist His will for us, preferring to choose
our own ways, we make a mess out of our lives and create more problems for
ourselves.
Total receptivity to His
Grace and divine providence means also to be receptive of His mercy. In asking for forgiveness, we are making
ourselves available to the mercy of God in our lives. Unless we
experience the mercy and forgiveness of God, we cannot forgive others. In
refusing to forgive others, we block the channel of grace in our lives.
God cannot bestow His blessings on us if our hearts are closed because of
unforgiveness. That is why, in all His teaching, what features most
prominently is the theme of forgiveness. “And forgive us our debts, as we
have forgiven those who are in debt to us. And do not put us to the test, but
save us from the evil one. Yes, if you forgive others their failings,
your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others,
your Father will not forgive your failings either.” It is the key to the
reception of all graces. So long as we bear grudges in our hearts, we
cannot be free, or be happy or be capable of receiving His grace. Indeed,
the psalmist says, “The Lord turns his face against the wicked to destroy their
remembrance from the earth. The Lord turns his eyes to the just and his ears to
their appeal.”
So if we want to pray the Lord’s Prayer
and make His prayer our own, let us adopt the disposition of
receptivity, docility to His grace, His will and seek to glorify Him in all we
do and say. By so doing, His Prayer will become effective in our
lives since His word will live in us and act in us.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment