Chapter 36 — "Jesus Taught Us to Pray"
OPENING PRAYER
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed by your name.
your kingdom come,
you will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors;
and do not subject us to the final test,
but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:5-13)
Amen.
"JESUS TAUGHT US TO PRAY"
—CCC, Nos. 2759–2865
How did you learn how to pray?
Jesus is our model for prayer. He prayed regularly and often, sometimes spending the night alone in prayer. He prayed before and during events that occurred in his life. Moved by his example, disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus responded by teaching them to pray what we now call the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father.” (Mt 6:9-13; Lk 11:2-4). The Church’s liturgy follows Matthew’s version of this prayer..
The Lord’s Prayer addresses “Our Father who art in heaven,” because Jesus, the Son of God made man, revealed God as such. Our union with Jesus Christ through Baptism gives us grace to become adopted daughters and sons of God. “Heaven” is where God is present, who is not bound by time and space.
The Lord’s Prayer has seven petitions. The first three petitions relate to God: We give praise and glory to God’s holiness (“hallowed be thy name”) and in our witness to God as the source and center of our life. We pray, “thy kingdom come,” for Christ to come again, and for God’s promised reign of love, justice, peace, mercy, forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation, already made present through Jesus, to continue and to prevail definitively. In praying “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” we ask God “to unite our will to that of Jesus Christ’s “so as to fulfill God’s plan of salvation in the life of the world.” We recall Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane to his Father when he asked that the cup of suffering be taken away from him, but he also prayed, “still, not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42).
The four other petitions present our needs to God. We pray for God to provide the material needs necessary for everyone’s subsistence, and also for the Bread of Life: the Word of God and the Body of Christ” (’give us this day our daily bread”). We pray for God to be merciful and to “forgive us our trespasses,” recognizing our need for us to also forgive those who have caused us offense (“as we forgive those who trespass against us”). We entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit to keep us alert to the dangers of sin and to give us the grace to discern and resist temptation (“and lead us not into temptation”), and to protect us from Satan and the forces of evil (“but deliver us from evil”).
We conclude with our praise of our Trinitarian God (“doxology”), added by the early Church: “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.” Amen.
Please read this week USCCA,Chapter 36, "Jesus Taught Us to Pray"(pages 481–495), the CCC, Nos. 2759–2865, (pages 661–688), and the Compendium, Nos. 582–598
VIDEOS
"The Lord's Prayer" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"What Does Jesus Teach Us About Prayer?" (Bishop Don Hying)
"The 'Our Father' in Jewish Aramaic, the spoken language of Jesus"
"What is the Lord's Prayer About?" Bishop Robert Barron
"The Lord's Prayer – CCC 2759–2776 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Our Father Who Art in Heaven" – CCC 2777–2802 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" – CCC 2803–2815 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Thy Kingdom Come" – CCC 2816–2837 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
"Now and Forever, Amen" – CCC 2838–2865 (Fr. Daniel Mahan)
MUSIC
"The Lord's Prayer" (Andrea Bocelli)
"The Lord's Prayer" (Susan Boyle)
OTHER RESOURCES
"Traditional Catholic Prayers"
"Oraciones Tradicionales Católicas"
"The Method of Centering Prayer"
"Liturgy of the Hours" (USCCB)
"Oraciones Tradicionales Católicas"
"The Method of Centering Prayer"
"Liturgy of the Hours" (USCCB)