Gospel Matthew 6:7-15
- Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This is how you are to pray:
‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.’
“If you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
REFLECTION:
It does not matter if you are Catholic, or Greek, Russian, Coptic, Ethiopian Orthodox, or Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, or any other Christian denomination, The “Our Father” is a prayer that every Christian knows how to pray. It is the prayer that unifies us all as believers in the Resurrection of Jesus. After all, it is the only prayer that Jesus himself taught. However, when each of us pray that unique Christian prayer, who do we have in mind when we pray it? Who is the “us”, the “we” and “those” in it?
When praying the “Our Father”, are the “we” and the “us” the ones just in our household? That is, our spouse and children? Or perhaps the “we” and the “us” include also those we love; like our siblings, our parents, and even perhaps some close friends. If we are truthful, we will acknowledge that such is the case when praying the “Our Father”. We often fail to include those we do not know personally but who are also clamoring for God. That the people in the Gaza-Israel and now Iranian conflict; those in the Ukrainian Russian war; those suffering in the wake of the Air India tragedy. What about the families torn apart by the mass deportations happening even as we speak? Or those families who are struggling to pay their bills because they got laid off in the recent Federal cuts? What about those who have a completely different view and understanding of the world? Are the homeless and mentally ill included in our prayer? What about the gang members or murderers or rapists spending their lives in jail for years to come?
In the prayer, we ask God to “…give us this day our daily bread;” It is not just proper but necessary to intercede for everyone around the world and in our own community so that God, through our actions, may assist everyone to have what each needs to live a dignified life. Similarly, for the “Our Father” prayer to be complete, we must forgive everyone! There is no action of ours or done by someone around the world that does not affect others or us. When we throw away some leftover food, that is food that could have been shared with someone in need in our community. When we buy clothes at low prices, that only happens when workers in another country earn poor wages. Etc. Everyone’s transgressions affect us all, one way or another. So, it is necessary to include everyone when we ask God to forgive our transgressions as we must forgive everyone around the world who, in some way or measure, has transgressed against us.
So, who is in your mind and heart when praying the “Our Father”?
Action of the Day
Today, whenever you pray the “Our Father” make sure you intentionally bring to mind as many different peoples as you can: the homeless, the migrant, the widows/widowers, the orphans, the incarcerated, the wounded soldiers, the starving families in war-torn areas, etc. Perhaps that way, our Father in Heaven may more readily and joyfully offer us what we need today and forgive our own transgressions as well!
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