In the Gospels Jesus taught us how we should pray to God.
On Sundays at Catholic school we are taught the Our Father prayer and usually we have to memorize it by repeating the prayer over and over again.
Sometimes we may not understand the complete scope of what we are saying by vocalizing each sentence. We may not realize what is behind this prayer.
I want to share with you what I see now as a combination of simplicity, beauty and power.
All in one short prayer.
Our Father
The prayer starts by addressing God as "our Father".
If we stop for a second and just think what this expression means we find something revealing.
Who is God?
According to Jesus, God is our father.
Who is God?
He is our Father.
If God is our father, then who are we?
We are the sons of God.
Offspring of a creature inherit the traits from the parent.
So we are not just any creature on this Earth.
We are very special creatures with very special gifts.
We are the sons of God.
So that means that I am a son of God.
And it isn't just me. You are a son of God. All of us are sons of God.
All of us are brothers.
We are all brothers with one Father, God.
Who art in heaven
Our Father designed and created this world. And He saw it was good.
He is everywhere and knows everything. He is Omniscient.
We can talk to Him any time.
We can pray to Him anywhere.
He is always listening.
He's everywhere around us.
Hallowed be Thy Name
His name is holy, pure and divine.
His presence commands respect and honour.
Let's honour Him.
Let's honour His name.
How?
With all our heart.
With all our soul.
With all our energy.
With all our minds.
With all our thoughts.
With all our will.
With our hands.
With what we say.
With what we do.
With what we think.
With our time.
With all our life.
Thy Kingdom come
Let His Holy kingdom come.
Kingdom of love, of peace and forgiveness.
Let His kingdom come to us, to our families, to our work place, to our college, to our neighborhood, to our friends.... in sum ...to our lives.
Let His Holy presence come through His Holy Spirit.
Let His Holy Spirit come to us... so we can be in common union.
In common union with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
Let His holy Spirit come, so we may become one.
Thy Will be done
What should we wish to be done?
Not our will, or anybody else's will.
But our Father's will.
Why?
How old are we? 30, 40, 70, 80, 100 years old?
What experience in life do we have?
Our Father has always been here since the beginning.
He knows better.
He is full of wisdom and He loves us.
He wishes the best for His children.
For He is Saint.
For He is Love.
For He is Wise.
For He is Almighty.
Let's listen to His advice.
On earth as it is in Heaven
Just as angels do His will,
just as the sun and the stars do His will,
let His will be done.
Let His will be done on us,
on our families,
on our lives.
Let His blessing come to us.
Let His Holy Spirit come to us.
Let Him set up His tent in our hearts.
Give us this day our daily bread
Our Father knows our needs before we ask.
We need food to eat, water to drink.
We need our body to be healthy.
We need a home.
We need work.
Give us strength.
Give us wisdom.
Give us love.
Give us peace.
If something is going to be missed at home, let it be anything but our Father.
Let our Father provide us according to His will.
And let's not forget to share what we have received with those in need.
And forgive us our trespasses
Father forgive our sins.
What sins?
Often we think we are not sinners but others are.
We don't kill, right?
We don't steal, right?
We might even be such saints that we don't even talk to our neighbor.
Hmmmm.... let's see.
Is there anything we've done that's against our Father's will?
What we think?
What we say?
What we do?
what we don't do?
Father forgive us when we act/think against Your will.
Our Father's will is to meet Him, love Him and serve Him.
Love one to another and help each other.
as we forgive those who trespass against us
Our Father will forgive us in the same exact measure as we forgive others.
Forgiveness starts with a decision.
A decision according to our Father's will.
Let's forgive others.
Let's forgive others and our Father will forgive our faults.
If forgiving is difficult for us, let's ask our Father to teach us how.
Father teach us how to forgive.
We wish to forgive, we want to forgive.
Teach us how to forgive.
The principal beneficiary of an act of forgiveness is the person that forgives.
For this person will feel "lighter". Like breaking the chain and leaving behind a huge weight.
Father teach us how to forgive.
And lead us not into temptation
Temptation cannot be avoided. It can be minimized.
Even Jesus Christ was subjected to temptation.
However temptation consists only of a proposition.
It's up to us to accepted or reject it.
Jesus lead us through the good trail.
Everything according to our Father's Will.
But deliver us from evil
AgainTemptations cannot be avoided.
Sometimes temptations have to be faced.
Why?
To put our faith to work.
To make our faith grow stronger.
To develop skills we didn't know we had.
To make us mature.
Temptation is not a one way street.
Temptation is a crossroad.
When we are faced with a crossroad, a decision has to be made.
Temptation is a proposition. We are not obliged to sin.
In Jesus Christ we have the power to make the right choice.
In Jesus Christ we have the power to say NO to sin.
In Jesus Christ we have the power to do according to our Father's will.
How do we know which is the right choice?
Let Jesus Christ be in our hearts.
Let Jesus Christ be in our minds.
Let Jesus Christ lead the way to our Father.
Let Jesus Christ be present in every decision we make.
Let His Holy Spirit be in us.
Let us be in common union with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Let us become one.
