Once again our readings raise up the importance of prayer by which we connect our lives to God. Saint Augustine said, “Man is a beggar before God.” A beggar is one in need; surely with all the turmoil in the world and the churning in our personal lives, we are in need. Our needs include reassurance, strength, courage, perspective, forgiveness, love and hope.
These readings reassure us that when we “beg” for what is right and just, our loving Father responds. In the first reading Abraham begs God to not destroy Sodom a city consumed by sin if there are saints in its midst. God responds to Abraham’s persistent prayer. The psalm response also reassures, “Lord, on the day I called for help you answered me.” St. Paul in the 2nd reading reminds us that we received new life in baptism when we became adopted children of God and therefore can call on God as “Our” Father in our prayer.
The Gospels tell us that Jesus prayed regularly especially before significant events. Surely the disciples noticed. They were religious people, some having been disciples of John the Baptist. Surely they prayed. Yet there must have been a sense that there is something more as they observed Jesus pray. So it would be a natural question for his disciples to ask how they should pray in the way that Jesus did.
He responded by teaching them what we know as the Our Father or the Lord’s Prayer. Today’s reading is the version revealed in the Gospel of Luke. It is different in wording from the one we pray at Mass which is included in the Gospel of Matthew. Yet the essence is the same.
Both versions begin with calling God “Father”, reminding us that we are adopted children of God through baptism. The first three petitions reflect our respect for God. When we pray “Our Father who art in heaven” we recognize that our life came from and our destiny is with God the Father. When we pray “Hallowed (holy) be thy name”, we pray in praise and thanksgiving and gratefully acknowledge God’s presence in our lives.
When we pray “thy will be done” we recognize that what is God’s will for us is better than what we may will for ourselves at any given moment. God is love. He answers our prayer only in ways that are good for us. A little girl prayed at Christmas for a thousand dolls. After Christmas her father said to her, “I see God didn’t answer your prayer”. “Yes, he did,” she responded. “He said no.” The wisdom of the young!
One commentator wrote that the last four petitions of the Our Father “takes the whole of life to the whole of God and the whole of God to the whole of life.”
When we pray “give us this day our daily bread” we pray to the Father for what we need in the present. It is a declaration that we trust in God for our daily needs, physical and spiritual. When we pray “forgive us our trespasses”, we pray to the Son for our need for mercy and the grace to put the past behind us. When we pray “lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil” we pray for the Holy Spirit to be our guide and counselor for the future. “The whole of life – present, past and future and the whole of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Our Father is also a pray of communion. It unites us with one another because when we pray it we pray not just for ourselves but for and with us all.
Charles Thompson wrote this little poem that catches the essence of this communal nature, that we are one family. He wrote: “You cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer and even once say ‘I’. You cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer and even once say ‘my’. Nor can you pray the Lord’s Prayer and not pray for another; for when you ask for daily bread, you must include your brother. For others are included in each and every plea. From the beginning to the end of it, is does not once say ‘me’.”
Jesus uses the wonderful image of parents who would do nothing but offer the best to their children. The story is told of a man who had one son. He provided all that the boy needed as best he could. Then the family adopted a boy a little younger. The two became brothers in the fullest sense of that word. One day when they were playing catch with a football the adopted brother thought of his past life and those friends who were still suffering from the lack of so many things he now received in his new family. He said to his brother, “I wish my old friend Kenny could have a football like this one. He loves football but his parents can’t afford one”.
His new brother responded: “why don’t you ask dad to get him one?” The response was that he did not want to impose on the man who had been so generous to him. “Don’t forget that my dad is your dad,” the other brother answered. “He gives me whatever I ask of him. If he thinks it is not good for me he will say so. Lots of times he gives me something better. Just ask him.” The friend Kenny got a football and the adopted son learned a key lesson. Our Father gives us what is good for us when we ask in humility through prayer.
Jesus noted; “If you who know how to give good gifts to your children as sinful as you are, how much more will our Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” As adopted children of God let us pray in humility and trust to the Father of us all.