Lenten Pilgrimage: Feb. 24, 2015 Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
A Lenten Pilgrimage
Tuesday of the First Week
February 24, 2015
A reflection on The Lord’s Prayer by Fr. Daniel L. Lowery, C.SS.R
We know the prayer by heart and say it often. It is perhaps the best-known prayer in the world. It is a precious prayer because it comes to us from Jesus himself. Through the years, many of the saints have written explicit meditations on this prayer, taking apart the words, as it were, so that their meaning could take deep roots in their hearts. The reflections that follow are basically those of St. Cyprian who wrote them in A.D. 250.
Our Father, Who art in heaven: One of the greatest truths of our faith is that we are the adopted sons and daughters of God and so can call him Father. It is noteworthy that we are not instructed to say “my father,” for we do not pray for ourselves alone, but we pray as members of the community of the Church, the sons and daughters of God, and we pray for the good of all.
Hallowed be Thy name: It is not as if we think we make God holy by our prayers. Rather, we are asking that his name be made holy in us. We pray that we who have been hallowed (made holy) in baptism may persevere in what we have begun.
Thy kingdom come: We pray that the kingdom built for us by God, the kingdom won by the death and resurrection of Christ, will fully come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: Our prayer here is that we may carry out God’s saving will in our lives. All that Jesus did and all that he taught was “the will of God.” We pray that in the face of obstacles and temptations we may have help and strength to do his will.
Give us this day our daily bread: This petition may be understood in a spiritual and in a literal way. Spiritually, Christ himself is our bread of life; he is our “food for the journey.” In addition, we believe that our Father knows our needs, and we trust that he will take care of us. We pray that his loving providence envelops us.
And forgive us our trespasses: We acknowledge that we are indeed sinners, that each day finds us unfaithful in this way or that. But we also recognize our Father’s great love, mercy, forgiveness. We believe that our Father truly forgives our sins.
As we forgive those who trespass against us: Jesus clearly laid down a condition for forgiveness – namely, that our debts be forgiven insofar as we forgive our debtors. If we hope for forgiveness from God, we must be ready to forgive others.
And lead us not into temptation: Here we pray not out of fear that God himself will lead us astray but, rather, to show our confidence that God can give us an escape from temptation and that “he will not let you be tested beyond your strength.”
But deliver us from evil: We pray to be kept safe from the power of Satan, the evil one, and all that he stands for. We pray that God will overcome evil in our lives.
