The part which we have now arrived at, as we continue to cover this series on the Mass, is the Our Father. One could write a book explaining the Our Father and still would not have exhausted this great prayer from our Lord himself.
To introduce the Our Father, the priest says, “At the Savior’s command and formed by divine teaching we dare to say.”
In Jesus’ sermon on the mount he commands his disciples to pray like this. This prayer is not a recommendation but a command from Jesus himself. Its formulation is divine; its very words are from God himself. It is God himself who teaches us how to pray. There is no better prayer than this one which includes all the necessary types of prayer there are. Foremost we turn to the source of all life on earth and in heaven. We turn to the Father of us all: Our Father. It is a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God: Hallowed be thy name…on earth as it is in heaven. It is a prayer for the establishment of God’s kingdom; Thy kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven. It is a prayer for God’s will to be done: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is a prayer for all one’s needs: Give us this day our daily bread. It is a prayer of repentance: forgive us our trespasses. Having received forgiveness from the Father it is a prayer for the grace to grant the same forgiveness to others: as we forgive those who trespass against us. It is a plea that temptation may not rule us: and lead us not into temptation. It is a prayer against evil and the evil one: but deliver us from evil.
I will speak more about this beautiful prayer next week.