Apr 16 Thu
What do we ask in the Lord’s Prayer?
The Lord wished us to repeat this prayer in God’s sight, to call Him our Father and, as Christ is God’s Son, be called in turn sons of God. None of us would ever have dared to utter this name unless He himself had allowed us to pray in this way, to become members of the big family of the children of God, gathered in Christ by the Holy Spirit.
“The Lord uses us as torches to make that light shine out. Much depends on us; if we respond, many people will remain in darkness no longer, but will walk instead along paths that lead to eternal life.”
During the day, we can ponder each of the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. These will give us abundant material for our prayer and meditation.
Hallowed be Thy name. We ask God that his Name may be made holy in us. We desire to obtain the highest degree of sanctity for all, to give glory to God, and that all may love Him.
Thy kingdom come. We desire that God may reign in everybody’s will. We ask that we all may happily reach our destination in his kingdom. We, who formerly were slaves in this world, will reign from now on under the dominion of Christ, in accordance with his promise: “Come, O blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray that all men serve and obey God on earth as He is served by the angels in heaven, carrying out his will.
Give us this day our daily bread. We ask for whatever is necessary for nourishment, clothing, and other temporal needs; for our daily food, which, for a Christian, is, principally, the body of Christ. Thus, we can understand this petition in a spiritual and a literal sense. For in the divine plan, both senses may help toward our salvation. With Christ’s help, we, who live and abide in him, will never be separated from his body and his grace.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive ... We ask God pardon for our sins. No one should complacently think himself innocent, lest his pride may lead to further sin.
We cannot obtain what we ask unless we do the same for those who trespass against us. We make an act of contrition and of sincere love towards our enemies and all who have caused us any harm. We wholeheartedly love them in the Lord.
Lead us not into temptation. We ask God to keep us from falling into temptations, for we should not trust our own strength alone.
Deliver us from evil. We ask for deliverance from the evils that afflict us and may set us away from his fatherly love. We ask to be liberated from the guilt and punishment of sin, from all snares that the devil and the world set up against us.
To finish, the priest alone develops the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer in the Embolism. He begs, on behalf of all of us, for deliverance from the power of evil: Deliver us, Lord, from every evil…