St. Benedict, best known as the founder of monasticism, was riding horseback one day from one monastery to the next. He passed a beggar, who snarled, “If I had a horse, I could pray too!” St. Benedict smiled and replied, “Friend, if you can pray the Lord’s Prayer without getting distracted, I will give you this horse.” The beggar jumped right in, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…does the saddle come with it?”
Isn’t that what we often have in mind when we say this awesome prayer? What’s in it for me? Yet there is so much more to this well known prayer than we give credence to.
As we just heard, when Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” Jesus then teaches them what has become the most widely said prayer by Christians ever since.
The Lord’s Prayer has always been at the very heart of Christian prayer. Notice that Luke’s version of this prayer is more concise than the one we commonly say that is found in Matthew’s gospel, but it maintains much the same reverence for God’s holiness and offers petitions for establishing God’s kingdom, our daily needs, and the forgiveness of our sins, as well as our forgiveness of others and the ability to withstand the trials of evil.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church outlines five different forms of prayer: prayer of blessing and adoration, prayer of petition, prayer of thanksgiving, prayer of praise, and prayer of intercession. When you stop to consider its richness, instead of hurrying through it, as we often do, you can notice all five forms of prayer are included in the Lord’s Prayer. Still, how much thought do you give to what you are saying?
Notice as you say this prayer that you cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer, and ever once say “I.” You cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer and ever once say, “My.” Nor can you pray the Lord’s Prayer, and not pray for another; for when you ask for daily bread, you must include your brother. For others are included in each and every plea: from the beginning to the end, it does not once say “Me.”
That beautiful prayer does contain some troublesome lines. One is, “they will be done.” They are perhaps the most dangerous words we can say. Have you ever given much thought to what that line really means? What if we were to pray, “Thy justice come,” “Thy peace come,” “Thy mercy come,” “Thy politics come,” “Thy economics come”? In fact, we are praying exactly for all of them and more.
We are praying and hoping for God’s kingdom to become a reality: a kingdom that knows neither border nor enemy; a kingdom that exalts humility and compassion over celebrity and wealth; a kingdom that treasures the poor and the sick; a kingdom that is ruled by love of God, where compassion is the measure of all things. In such a kingdom, there would not be refugees fleeing to find a better life for themselves only to then be treated as common criminals. Compassion would compel us to find more humane ways to treat them.
Whenever we say this prayer, we are promising to be conspirators with God in creating his kingdom here and now. So often we envision God’s kingdom as only being in heaven, but his kingdom is to be experienced in our lifetime in this place here and now as well and it can be if we did our part. It’s hard to keep religion personal and private if that is our prayer. We would be justified in skipping this part of the Lord’s Prayer, being very uneasy at that point. Of course, if we ignore that line, then we have only ourselves to blame for the morass our world is in.
The kingdom God envisions doesn’t quite mesh with the kingdom many of us are building. But keep in mind that it’s not our prayer. It’s Jesus’ prayer; the one he taught us to say by heart and to mean what we say. It is Jesus who puts all our loyalties, all our hopes, all our loves on the table, makes us look at them, then makes us pray those dangerous words, “thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Thy will be done, not ours, in our homes, in our offices, in our work places, in our classrooms. We pray that God’s will be done in every moment of our lives as it will be done in heaven. When you stop to think about its message, this prayer is not so much asking God to do what we want but reminding ourselves of what God is asking us to do. Are we willing to make God’s will a reality in our lives?
Prayer worthy of God’s attention seeks the grace to be ready and willing to make God’s will a reality through acts of forgiveness, charity, and justice. Forgiveness brings to mind another troublesome line for many. Oftentimes as a penance, I suggest that penitents say the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and then ask themselves two questions. We make the plea, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” yet how often are we willing to practice the art of forgiveness? I invite them to ponder, “Who do I still need to forgive and whose forgiveness do I need for what I have said or done or failed to do?” I then suggest that if any names come to mind to then ask God for the grace to forgive that person or to give that person the grace to forgive them. To quote St Thomas More, “O God, give us the grace to work for the things we pray for.”