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.
This is the prayer that Jesus entrusted to us so that we may address our divine Father in this familiar way together with Him.
Certainly, it is important to consider every line, and yet I would like to focus on the term Father, for in Madre Eugenia’s booklet—where God the Father speaks to humanity—God places special emphasis on being recognized by all of humanity as Creator and Father. (Link to the booklet: https://www.fatherspeaks.net/pdf/the_father_speaks_english_v-2005-02.pdf)
It says there: “I want this whole world to know that there is a God and a Creator. This God, Who will address their ignorance twice over, is unknown to them; they do not know that I am their Father.”
People are to come to know God as their Father. They are to know that He loves them and that everything He does or permits happens solely for their salvation. This is precisely what people lack: a Father who knows them and guides them with both a firm and a gentle hand. A Father who loves them and seeks them out when they have strayed onto wrong paths, to lead them back onto the right one.
He is the Father who forgives without, for example, downplaying human failings. God is a merciful—but not a weak—Father. He is a Father who wants to give us all His riches and live with us in intimate fellowship.
Deep down, we know that we are seeking such a Father, one who leads us through time into eternity. God Himself has placed this longing within us, for all good and perfect fatherhood comes from Him.
Jesus has shown us that the longing for such a Father is not mere wishful thinking. No—He has revealed Him to us and taught us this holy prayer, the Lord’s Prayer.
Here is the video containing Jesus’ three words on prayer:
