I. Our Father

“Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” Lk. 11:1

“But when you pray,…pray to your Father…Pray then like this: Our Father…” Mt. 6: 6,9

Many of us pray the “Our Father” daily and many of us pray it not only daily, but several times a day. Because of this, we can find ourselves reciting this prayer without ever giving it much thought. I believe it was St. Teresa of Avila who remarked that the Our Father, prayed mindfully, is the most perfect prayer. Unfortunately, we miss the fullness and the richness of this prayer when we recite it hastily—whether in a liturgical context or a personal one. So I would like to take some time in this blog, to linger with this prayer.

Our Father. Those two words ought to stop us in our tracks. What does it mean to address the Creator of all that is, as Father? And not just as ‘my Father’, but as ‘our Father? It is to acknowledge that we are all sons or daughters of the one God. Regardless of our religious affiliation, or lack thereof, we are all beloved children of God, brothers and sisters, members of one family. It is to acknowledge that we are in a relationship with God and one another. ‘Father’, of course, is a metaphor. We do not know how to think or speak in any other way. While we do not know whether the Godhead has gender, we do know that the Godhead is a ‘person’—and not just a person, but a community of persons—even though we do not fully understand what a ‘person’ is, either. That we do not understand all this, that we are unable to fully grasp what we are saying, can bring us to a stance of awe.

To pray ‘Our Father’ is to acknowledge that we are not merely in relationship, but that we are in a relationship of radical dependency. While we do not like to think of ourselves as dependent, when it comes to our very existence, we are dependent creatures. We are dependent upon God for our lives, gifts, abilities, and so forth. We really cannot do anything in and of ourselves. Those things we can do for ourselves are a result of God’s gift and grace. Of ourselves, we cannot so much as add one moment to our lifespan. We are also dependent upon our brothers and sisters and upon our earth and its resources: sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, soil, trees, clouds, birds, fish, bees, cattle, fruits, grains—all contribute to our existence and well-being.

To pray ‘Our Father’ is to learn and to know our true identity. Our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God is the one and only identity that cannot be taken from us—and the one identity that matters.