Our Father

Gospel Reflection for October 9, 2024

Icon of the Sermon on the Mount

Today’s Gospel is the Lukan recording of the Our Father. Clearly, this is a shorter version of the prayer from the Gospel of Matthew. Perhaps this is because Matthew was authored first. Either way, this prayer has much to teach us as it is the prayer that Our Lord taught us when asked. St. Thomas Aquinas beautifully gives three qualities that this prayer possesses which speak to its importance.

He lists the qualities as:

Brevity

Perfection

Efficacy

He begins with brevity. He says:

“Brevity, for two reasons: that all may easily learn it, both great and small, for the same is Lord over all, rich unto all who call upon him (Rom 10:12); second, that he might give the surety of obtaining with ease.”¹

The quality of brevity is important because it allows the faithful to memorize it easily. This is true of both the adult and the child, the scholar, and the simple man. Anyone can learn it because it is brief and simple. This lends to the idea that there is one God and He is God of all and so we can all invoke Him as Father. Throughout the prayer, we can see the word “us” is used multiple times and this is to indicate a familial relation between the faithful as children of the one Father.

He then moves on to perfect:

“It is also perfect, hence: the consumption abridged (Isa 10:23), and just as Augustine says, whatever can be contained in other prayers is wholly contained in this; hence he says that if we pray fittingly and rightly, nevertheless whatever words we use, we say nothing else but what is included in the Lord’s prayer: perfect are the works of the Lord (Deut 33:4).”²

The citation from St. Augustine speaks to this prayer immensely. All other prayers are contained in this prayer. This prayer is the perfect prayer because it is taught to us by God Himself. It has within it the different types of prayer identified in Catholic Tradition: Adoration, Petition, Intercession, Thanksgiving. Each of these in their most pure form are found in the words of the Our Father. And thus, it can be used for any situation we find ourselves in.

Lastly, he says it is efficacious:

“It is efficacious because prayer, according to Damascene, is a petition of suitable things from God; you ask and you receive not because you ask wrongly (Jas 4:3). But knowing what to ask for is a difficult thing, just as knowing what to desire: for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself asks for us (Rom 8:26). And because God taught us this prayer, therefore it is the most efficacious, and thus it is said in Luke: Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11:1).”³

This prayer is God teaching us how we should pray. Therefore, it is most efficacious. The source of prayer Himself is teaching us to pray the way that we ought. The Our Father encompasses the heart of prayer, and it is contained in the phrase:

Thy will be done

We want to remember that prayer is not an attempt for man to get God to bend to his will. We do not change God’s mind in prayer. God has already laid out the entire course of history according to His providence. Instead, He has willed that we ask Him for what we need so that we can be conformed to His will for us. Simply, prayer is not to obtain what we will, it is to conform ourselves to what He wills.

This is why we must approach all prayer with this spirit of humility. Understanding that our ways are not His ways.⁴ All things that are given to us are willed for our good. But we can only realize that when we embrace humility and truly pray the petitions of the Our Father, specifically, that His will be done.

1. St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, C. 6, L. 3.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Cf. Isaiah 55:8-9.