Beacon Of Light… The Coming Of His Reign
By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.
(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn.)
- + + Last week I concluded our article by presenting the priestly prayer of Jesus. This prayer is considered the foundation, if you will, of understanding the Lord’s prayer. When Jesus prayed this prayer, He arranged it in such a way so that it would incorporate three important aspects of prayer. First, He prayed to God the Father. Even though Jesus was God, this prayer was necessary in order for Jesus to fulfill and experience His human nature. Jesus prays that He and the Father might be one. In doing so, Jesus establishes for us the example of how to begin our prayers.
We begin by praying to the Father. Since the Father is the Creator of all, it is fitting that we begin our prayers by speaking to the Creator. Second, Jesus’ prayer includes those who had become His disciples. In particular He prays for their perseverance and sanctification. This was important because He knew the difficulties that they would endure in future times. He wanted to make sure they would receive special strength and the graces necessary to be strong in the faith they had received. Third, Jesus prays for His disciples. In particular He prays for unity among the disciples. Why is this important? Because if the disciples are going to become the witnesses of Christ, and ultimately, the “new church” then there must be unity. A church divided is not a church at all.
Having spent three years teaching the disciples, and those whom they met, the day came when one of the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. For Jesus, prayer was fundamental to His life and ministry, so teaching the disciples how to pray was important. In teaching them, however, Jesus uses basically the same design as the priestly prayer when giving them the Our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer. We call it the Lord’s because it comes from the Lord Himself who is the master of prayer. The Our Father is a major component of the Sacraments of Initiation. In essence, the Lord’s Prayer is the summary of the entire Gospel message.
In passing on the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus arranged it in two parts. First is the prayer to God the Father. As in the priestly prayer, Jesus reminds us of the importance to show honor and glory to the Father above. This requires simple and faithful trust, along with a humble and joyous heart. These dispositions are proper for us as we pray to the Father. How can we call God our Father? We have this special relationship because it has been given to us by the Lord Jesus. In Baptism, we are incorporated into God’s family through adoption as His sons and daughters. In another way, this first petition brings us in communion with the Father, but it also enables us to be in communion with ourselves.
In order to pray to the Father, we need to know ourselves completely, thus making us vulnerable to whatever the Lord has in store for us. Praying to the Father should enhance our desire to become more like Him. We need to remember; we are created with an internal longing for the Father. So, this petition to the Father fosters in us a more humble and trusting heart. In saying “our” we are referring to the New Covenant as established in Christ Jesus. Lastly, reference to being in “Heaven” refers not so much to a physical place, but rather, to the majesty of God and His presence in our hearts. Heaven is our true homeland, and where we desire to go and belong.
The rest of the prayer is a series of seven petitions. The seven petitions are broken into two parts. The first three keep us pointed toward the one we love, namely, God. They remind us of the importance of God’s Holy Name, Holy Kingdom, and Holy Will. In any relationship it is important to think of the other, rather than us. Our participation in the “divine relationship” requires a continual disposition toward God whom we love. Notice that the first three petitions do not deal with us, or anything we want. They keep us rooted in the “divine relationship” with God. These supplications have directed us to hope for our final fulfillment of being in God’s presence forever.
The second series of petitions unfolds an offering of our expectations before God. These expectations draw down God’s loving and merciful gaze toward us in our hour of need. God hears our supplication as we meander through this present world on the pilgrim way to Heaven. Our supplications can be expressed by the following petitions: give us, forgive us, lead us not, and deliver us.
The fourth and fifth petitions are concerned with our life and the need for nourishment. We need to be fed and we need to be healed of sin. This petition recalls for us the desire to receive the Eucharist frequently. Likewise, being nourished with the “divine sustenance” enables us to ward off sin and receive the healing we need in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The last two petitions are concerned with the battle that exists in life and the victory that is ours. These petitions deal with forgiveness and temptation. If we look at the first part of this petition it says, forgive us our trespasses. Taken alone this simply means God is the one who forgives us. Looking closer there is another part to this. The petition continues by saying, forgive those who trespass against us. These two phrases are linked together with the word, as, which indicates one cannot be done without the other. Having received the Lord’s forgiveness and merciful love, we must in turn forgive our neighbor and those who have trespassed against or hurt us. This is essential to living a life of faith.
The last petition deals with temptation and the deliverance from evil. When we pray that we are not “led into temptation,” we are asking for the graces and strength we need to avoid the cunningness of the evil one. Being led into temptation requires an action of the will and is a decision made with the heart. Here it is important that we remember that we cannot serve two masters. Either we honor, adore, and serve the Lord, or we allow ourselves to serve the father of darkness. We cannot do both! There must exist a conscious decision to choose between God or the evil one.
For us, being prefigured to Christ in creation, there is always an innate desire toward the good. This, however, can become clouded by the allure of the evil one. In the end, this petition opens before us a portal toward a continual opportunity for conversion of heart. This conversion of heart is not just a “one one-time occurrence” — it must last a lifetime.
His Saving Will
Finally, we return to where we began, we have come full circle and find ourselves gazing at the following phrase: “For the Kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.” This we call the “The Final Doxology,” for we return to the Father whence we came. In the end we are reminded that what truly matters in the life of the Christian is, namely, the glorification of God’s name, the coming of His reign, and the power of His saving will. Thus, we are invited to experience the three titles attributed to God alone, kingship, power, and glory.
This petition keeps us focused on what really matters: everlasting life. Isn’t it interesting that when we look at praying the Lord’s Prayer we begin with God, and we end with God. Everything we have in this life began with God in creation, and everything will end with God when He comes again in glory! The very last word we pray is Amen, which means so be it.
And with that we have finished our somewhat long survey of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which began last September. For me it was a great refresher in all that the Church teaches and all that has been revealed. Thank you for journeying with me over these last several months as together we renewed our faith in Jesus Christ.
Until next week! May the Lord bless all the readers of The Wanderer newspaper.