Tuesday of the First Week of Lent (February 20, 2018): Meet Our Father in the Lord's Prayer

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is showing us how intimately our Father loves us. In the first reading, we see our Father reminding us that whatever he has promised to do for us (promised in his Word), he will indeed do for us. Why do we doubt this?

Doubt comes from incomplete information: We received our first images of what God the Father is like from our human fathers and other authority figures (including mothers). Since even the best of parents imitated God imperfectly and loved us insufficiently, our knowledge of God the Father’s love is insufficient.

When we pray the “Our Father” prayer — if we really pay attention to the words, praying from our hearts instead of rattling off the words like babbling pagans — we open ourselves to his complete love. Each part of this prayer, which Jesus learned from his own experiences with the Father, is a prescription for an intimate relationship with our heavenly Daddy.

A good spiritual exercise this Lent is to pray the “Our Father” slowly, line by line, reflecting on how each part connects you to the love of the Papa who loves you perfectly and completely and unconditionally.

At the end of this Gospel reading, Jesus offers us the key that unlocks the power of our Father’s love. It’s no accident that he gives additional instruction for only one part of the prayer: “If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours.” Unforgiveness closes our hearts to love. When the door is shut, we’re not open to receive love, not even our perfect Father’s love.

This is why Jesus told us to pray to our Father instead of to my Father or to the Father. We’re all in this together. Our Father is Jesus’ Father. It’s a community prayer. Even when we pray it by ourselves, we are not alone. Jesus is our prayer partner.

When we pray it in church, we’re united to all of God’s children. How can we love God while refusing to love someone for whom he cares deeply? The more willing we are to love others — including those who are most difficult to love — the more we open ourselves to the love of our Father.

And the more we open ourselves to our Father’s love, the more love we have to share with others.

To help with this, use the Good News WordByte, “The ‘Our Father’ Prayer: Do I Really Mean What I Pray?” gnm.org/prayers-our-father-meaning/

To expand upon this, consider how Jesus might have invented the “Our Father” prayer for his particular needs while he was still a carpenter. Read the WordByte, “Did Jesus Struggle Just Like You Do?” wordbytes.gnm.org/spiritualgrowth-struggle/

My Father, I ask You to grant me the grace of having a deep and sincere relationship with You. May Your love start bearing fruit in me, forgiving others and being merciful to them. Amen.