17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle C
July 28, 2019
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 4pm
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore 11am
“Lord, teach us to pray”
The disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and Jesus responds with a fifty-five-word prayer.
That’s why we call this the Lord’s Prayer. Today I want to share maybe a fresh way of appreciating this.
The idea is that we can see the Lord’s Prayer as having three sections. First, the address or salutation.
Second, the “thy” section with three phrases each containing the word “thy.” And third, the “us”section with three phrases each containing the word “us”or “our” or “we.”
1. “Our Father”
So, first, we begin with the salutation, “Our Father, who art in heaven.”
To appreciate this, the words we use to introduce it here at Mass are helpful. In the introduction, the priest says, “We dare to say.”
Well, we, today, don’t find it daring or risky to say the Our Father. But, it was daring when Jesus taught it.
The Jewish people would never address God by name or in a familiar way. They saw God as distant and felt it was irreverent to use a name for God, except the word “Lord” or something like that.
So, here Jesus teaches us to speak to God as “Our Father.” He introduces us to a closeness, a close relationship with God.
We are to see God as our parent, our dad. We still see God as greater than us and as transcendent.
That’s why we say, “who art in heaven.” But we now also dare to relate to God as relational and loving – as “Our Father.”
2. “Thy”
That takes us to section two of the prayer – the “Thy” phrases.
We say,“Hallowed be thy name.” The idea here is that first and foremost, we need to praise God.
We need to worship God – and that’s what we do here at Mass and whenever we pray the Our Father. This keeps a check on our own egos and keeps us humble in a very healthy way.
Then, we say, “Thy kingdom come.” Here we are focusing not on what we want to do or control.
Instead, we are focusing on what God wants to do for us. We are honoring God’s intention and plan for us.
And to make this completely clear, we say, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We presume that God’s way or will is done in heaven because that is what heaven is.
We pray that God’s way or will also permeates all that we do as human beings. This is the way that God’s kingdom will come.
3. “Our/We/Us”
And that takes us to section three of the prayer – the “Our/We/Us” phrases.
We say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Here we are making an act of faith, or maybe better, an act of trust in God.
We are not asking God for long-term needs. We are simply placing our trust in God for what we need to get through this day.
Next, we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Here I have to note that nine times in this prayer, we use the words “our” or “us” or “we.”
Jesus never tells us to use the words mine or me or I. It is always in the plural, to include all God’s people and that really means all people.
So, in this phrase about forgiving us as we in turn forgive, Jesus is reminding us that we are all human and imperfect. We all need to be forgiven and remembering this helps us to be forgiving.
Finally, we say, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Pope Francis has talked about the translation of these words.
He says that instead of “Lead us not into temptation,” the more precise meaning is, “Do not let us fall into temptation.” His idea is that God, our loving Father, would never lead us into temptation.
The devil or ungodly tendencies in our world may lead us into temptation, but not God. So, we are really praying here, whether the words are ever changed or not,“Do not let us fall into temptation.”
Conclusion
So, we dare to speak to God as “Our Father” – a loving parent who is in heaven.
