Sister Gaby Lepage hels us to discover the hidden depths of the Lord’ Prayer
In 1982, I was in Malawi, Africa, as a missionary. One day, we welcomed a Jewish family into our community, the father, the mother and a little boy. I loved watching this child, who, in his father’s arms, spent his time repeating ABBA, ABBA, with gentleness and tenderness.
This scene reminded me of Jesus calling his father ABBA, papa, beloved father, the intimate secret of Jesus’ relationship with God his father and of his mission in God’s name.
To his apostles, who had asked him one day: ‘Teach us to pray’, he had told them: ‘When you pray, say OUR FATHER who art in heaven…Luke 11, 1-4, Mt 6, 9-13
In the first three prayers of the Our Father, man is concerned about the cause of God; in the next four, it is God who is concerned about the cause of man.
In the prayer of Jesus, the cause of God is not distinct from that of man, and the cause of man is not foreign to that of God.
In his encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI argued that the Church cannot confine its mission to the religious sphere alone, ignoring man’s temporal problems. A true relationship with God depends on our relationship with others. The OUR FATHER makes us a family beyond all borders. It invites us to address the Father so that we may discover ourselves as his daughters and sons, so that we may live as his daughters and sons and as sisters and brothers, one with the other.
HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME
May your name be recognised, praised and sung! For Christians, God’s name is Jesus. This name is alive and well, and even today it sanctifies those who speak it. The name creates a relationship. God creates a relationship between God and us. He enters into a relationship with us and allows us to enter into a relationship with him. He enters our human world. Pope Francis likes to repeat that God’s name is Mercy.
YOUR KINGDOM COME
God has trusted us so much that he has a call for each of us. We should always remember that Jesus is communion, and communion is one of the most beautiful names of the Church. The Holy Spirit makes each of us grow in a life of communion with God. The quality of Christian life is a sign that the kingdom of God is coming. Lord, may your kingdom be a kingdom of love, for you are Love. When we ask for the coming of your kingdom and not our own, we need first and foremost a docile heart.
The life of this reign is the continuation of the life of Christ in his own people.
YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
The Bible gives us a glimpse of man’s innermost knowledge of God’s will. Communion of knowledge with God, deeply inscribed in us, which we call conscience. God’s will comes from God’s being; it therefore leads us to the truth of our being.
How often Jesus says: ‘I have come to do your will’. As we look to Jesus, we discover that the gravitational pull of our own will keeps pulling us further and further away from the truth of our being. Jesus accepts us, he pulls us upwards.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD
We should note here that it is a question of ‘our bread’. It is a request for our bread and that of others. This is in line with the words of Jesus: ‘Give them something to eat yourselves’. Asking for bread just for today opens up perspectives that go beyond the horizon of essential daily nourishment. The words of the Bible confirm this: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’.
Thousands of people die every year for lack of bread, does it challange me? It should!
Thousands of people have never heard of Jesus Christ, does it challange me? It should!
FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US
If a person does not feel like a forgiven sinner, they will never be able to make a gesture of forgiveness or reconciliation. The most important thing for you is to discover that God, your father, loves you as you are today. The theme of forgiveness runs through the Gospel. People’s offences against each other and against God call for forgiveness. Forgiveness is the most beautiful sign of love. To forgive is to want to restore the dignity of others, to tell them that they no longer owe us anything, that we are once again equals. It takes a great deal of humility, courage and love. And we mustn’t forget that we also have to forgive ourselves. It’s not that easy!
AND LET US NOT BE TAKEN INTO TEMPATION
Pope Francis once said: ‘Satan is a very cunning person, he is well-mannered, he knocks at the door, he enters with seductive manners. You can’t argue with Satan, because if you start, you’re lost’.
To truly pass from superficial piety to a profound union with God’s will, man needs to be put to the test. Love is always a process of painful self-transformation. St Francis Xavier is said to have said to the Lord: ‘I know I need trials, but don’t forget that my strength is limited’.
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL, AMEN
God did not send Jesus Christ to earth to condemn, but so that every human being would know how to love and find a path to communion with God. Evil exists on a large scale: drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, the powers of the market.
It also exists on a small scale, I would say: we may not dare to speak out in a case of injustice, we may not welcome someone who is different from us, we may be afraid to share our faith in God the Father with those around us, we may often resort to lying in our dealings with others, and so on.
Yes, Lord, deliver us from evil.
The Our Father is the only prayer taught by Jesus himself, and he invites us to recite it every day. It is the most complete and irreplaceable prayer.
