Luke 11:1-4

Luke 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,

one of his disciples said to him,

“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,

your Kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins

for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,

and do not subject us to the final test.”

Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, hallowed be your name. Establish your Kingdom in my heart and in my family. Give me each day the grace and nourishment I need, forgive my sins as I forgive others, and preserve me from whatever would lead me away from you. Teach me to seek your will above all things and to trust your loving providence.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Teach Us to Pray: “When Jesus prays he is already teaching us how to pray. His prayer to his Father is the theological path (the path of faith, hope, and charity) of our prayer to God. But the Gospel also gives us Jesus’ explicit teaching on prayer. Like a wise teacher he takes hold of us where we are and leads us progressively toward the Father. Addressing the crowds following him, Jesus builds on what they already know of prayer from the Old Covenant and opens to them the newness of the coming Kingdom. Then he reveals this newness to them in parables. Finally, he will speak openly of the Father and the Holy Spirit to his disciples who will be the teachers of prayer in his Church” (CCC, 2607). In his teaching on prayer, Jesus insists on conversion of heart. We need to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters, we need to love our enemies, and pray for our persecutors. We need to pray to the Father in secret, not heap up empty phrases, seek forgiveness from the depths of our hearts, and seek the Kingdom before all else (CCC, 2608). “Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to ‘seek’ and to ‘knock,’ since he himself is the door and the way” (CCC, 2609).

2. Five Petitions: The Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke contains five petitions. The first two petitions “carry us toward God” (CCC, 2804) and ask that God’s name be hallowed and that God’s kingdom be made present. The last three petitions draw down upon us the eyes of the Father of mercies (CCC, 2805) and request good things from our Father: we ask for our daily bread, the forgiveness of our sins, and to be spared from the final tribulation. The third and fourth petitions concern our life as such – to be fed and to be healed of sin. The fifth and last petition concerns our battle of prayer for the victory of life (CCC, 2805). The Lord’s Prayer is a perfect prayer and a model for our every prayer. By the first two petitions, “we are strengthened in faith, filled with hope, and set aflame by charity” (CCC, 2806). We recognize in this prayer that we are creatures who need bodily and spiritual sustenance from our Father and Creator, that we are sinners who need to be forgiven by God and who need to forgive others, and that we are participants in the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation that he accomplishes for us and for the whole world (CCC, 2806).

3. The Rosary: A School of Prayer: The Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary invites us to consider how the Rosary helps us put Jesus’ teaching on prayer into practice. Each mystery begins with the Our Father, the prayer Jesus himself taught us. The Our Father introduces us into the mystery by directing our hearts first toward the Father, his name, and his Kingdom, and then toward the needs of our daily lives. We ask for the grace to enter more deeply into God’s plan as we contemplate the mysteries of Christ’s life. The ten Hail Marys that follow provide a repeated rhythm for contemplation. As we pray them, we are invited to remain with the mystery – to contemplate Christ’s Incarnation, his public ministry, his Passion, or his glory – with Mary, who pondered the mysteries of her Son in her heart. The repetition is not meant to distract us from the mystery but to help quiet our minds and hearts so that we can remain with it. Each decade concludes with the Glory Be, directing everything we have contemplated toward the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Rosary is both vocal prayer and contemplation. The Our Father teaches us to ask according to God’s will, the Hail Marys help us contemplate the mystery of Christ with Mary, and the Glory Be reminds us that every mystery ultimately reveals the glory of the Triune God. In this way, Mary leads us into the school of prayer taught by her Son.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you taught me to pray by giving me the words of the Our Father. Teach me to pray with the faith, hope, and love you desire. Through the intercession of your Mother, help me contemplate the mysteries of your life and conform my heart to yours, so that everything I ask may lead me closer to the Father and his Kingdom.

Living the Word of God: What does the Our Father reveal about what I truly desire? Do I sincerely desire God’s name to be glorified, his Kingdom to come, and his will to be accomplished in my life? How faithfully do I make time for contemplative prayer? When I pray the Rosary, do I merely recite the prayers, or do I allow them to lead me into a deeper contemplation of Christ and the mysteries of his life? How should my prayer change the way I live? What petition of the Our Father – holiness, God’s Kingdom, daily provision, forgiveness, or perseverance – does Jesus especially want me to put into practice today?