Church of the
Annunciation

When people come for confession, most often, I ask them to pray the Our Father. It may sound to be an easy penance but upon reflection we come to appreciate that the Our Father is more than a prayer – it is a way of praying. In our Gospel (St. Luke) a disciple asks Jesus to teach them how to pray. When we compare the Lord’s Prayer in St. Luke’s Gospel with the Lord’s Prayer in St. Matthew’s Gospel and then with ancient texts we see both similarities and differences. It suggests that disciples treasured the words of Jesus but also felt free to adapt and add their own words as they learned how to pray following the example of Jesus. Jesus tells us to begin by praying: “Father.” For believers who dare to say: “Father,” God is not an impersonal cosmic force but a personal being of love who care for us. “Father” creates a special bond between us and our Creator. We are the children of God. There are five petitions in the Lucan Our Father: 1. Hallowed be your Name. 2. Your Kingdom come. 3. Give us bread each day. 4. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those in debt to us. 5. Do not put us to the test. Regarding the last petition, we know that life is full of tests, trials and temptations. When we pray to the Father not to bring us into a time trial, testing and temptation, we are beseeching God to preserve us from human frailties, difficulties and calamities that can overwhelm us. But what is unspoken in our prayer is our faith and hope that no matter whatever comes or befalls us, we can face it with God’s grace, strength and mercy. It is similar to the prayer of Jesus in the Garden Gethsemane praying that the cup of suffering might pass him by but God’s will be done. The last verse of our Gospel today is a promise from Jesus that God will send the precious gift of the Holy Spirit to all who beseech the Father in prayer.