Reflection On The Meaning Of The "Our Father"

Yesterday I was blessed to be able to go to confession. The penance the priest gave me was to pray the "Our Father" very slowly while contemplating the words I was saying... I ended up finding an article that was incredibly well-written. I decided to borrow a little bit of it here... There is much more detail in the full article, which you can read if you click here.

“Our Father”
God is not just Father or even my Father, he is “our” Father. Although the word “our” is not in St. Luke’s account (Lk 11:2), it is certainly implied. The universality of God’s fatherhood is an important theme in Matthew’s Gospel. It highlights God’s covenantal family. Because God is “our” Father our relationship with others must cut through all races, sexes, cultures, classes, parties, or any other distinctions. The other, no matter how despicable or downtrodden, irregardless of their offenses and brokenness, is always my brother or sister because they are also God’s children. The Father’s great love sent Jesus to bind our wounds and unite us into one family. This is one reason that so much of Catholic worship is communal worship. It celebrates God’s love as the family of God.

“Who Art In Heaven”
Heaven is the possession of God, because God is everything worth possessing. When we possess God and nothing else, we have everything. On the other hand, if we possess every conceivable earthly good and do not have God, we have nothing. “What will it profit a man,” Jesus asked, “to gain the whole world and to suffer the loss of his soul” (Mt 16:26)?

“Hallowed Be Thy Name”
In this petition we ask that His most holy name be sanctified and honored everywhere. May we always honor His name in our thoughts and in our actions. Without His help we are utterly helpless to do so. So we pray: “Never let us violate your name by sin.” When we sin we drag your name, which you indelibly imprinted on our soul, through the muck of evil and death.

“Thy Kingdom Come”
We have a distorted understanding of kingship. We view it only in a governmental sense. A king is viewed only as a ruler or perhaps the ceremonial head of state. In democratic countries like the United States we have almost no appreciation of the biblical concept of kingship. This may be why some modern translators render the Greek word basileia as reign of God rather than kingdom of God. God’s fatherhood is the basis for His kingship, because in God His fatherhood and His kingship are one.

“Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven”
Submission to the Father’s will defines what it means to live faithfully in His kingdom. This is how we, His children and His subjects, must live. Obedience to His will is the only way we can show our love. Thus Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). It is only in the full submission to the Father’s will that we are truly free and at peace.

“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”
When these two images, daily and tomorrow, converge they underscore the supersubstantial bread of the Eucharist, “the bread from heaven” (Jn 6:32-32). This daily bread sustains our supernatural life, is the source of all grace, and in the great tomorrow it is cause of our resurrection in Christ. Liturgically this awesome reality is evidenced in the ancient practice at Mass of reciting or singing the Lord’s Prayer before Holy Communion. The Our Father is a reminder that we are about to receive the Bread of the great tomorrow when our union with the Heavenly Bridegroom will be eternally celebrated in the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

“And Forgive Us Our Trespasses As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us”
Nevertheless, the Father extends His merciful forgiveness. When our repentance is complete so is His forgiveness. However, God demands that we act like Him by forgiving those who have offended us. He knows that forgiveness liberates the wounded heart and removes the poison that endangers it. In that process we experience the depth of God’s love and mercy. When we forgive we also reveal he Father’s heart to others.

“Lead Us Not Into Temptation”
So we ask our Father, “lead us not into temptation.” In other words we ask the Father to make us humble relying on His strength and protection. We ask Him to keep us from becoming overconfident, complacent, self-seeking and boastful. When we are humble in this life the Father can exalt us in eternity. We ask the Father, “Deliver us from sin, the only evil.”

“But Deliver Us From Evil”
While our Father never uses force, He is not a passive bystander waiting on the sidelines to see which destiny we choose. He is always the loving Father nudging His wayward children with his loving support and direction. When, for example, we get caught drunk on the job and are fired, or are arrested for shoplifting, or have an affair exposed, or get caught cheating or lying, or get divorced for unfaithfulness, selfishness and neglect -- these are signs of God’s undeserved mercy. He’s trying to get our attention to the far greater danger that lies in eternity. When our evil is exposed, God is not abandoning us to sin with its pleasures. If we were not caught we would fall deeper into the arms of Satan until, like the scribes and Pharisees, we had sealed ourselves off from God’s mercy and forgiveness.

“Amen.”
We end our prayers with the word amen. It is a transliteration of a solemn Hebrew word (’amen) describing something firm, true, or reliable. At the conclusion of Christian prayer it expresses our complete trust and surrender to God’s will. It is our fiat.