Mark 6:7-15

Isaiah 55:10-11

Psalm 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19

Mark 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:

"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,

who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them.

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This is how you are to pray:

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.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,

your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men,

neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, I do not know how to pray as I ought. Guide my prayer today. Help me to praise you and thank you. Help me to ask for good things and to seek forgiveness for my sins.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Thy Name Be Hallowed: The first petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be thy name,” asks that God’s holy name be recognized and treated as holy. “When something is holy, it is consecrated, set apart from everything else – in that sense, it is transcendent. Yet it is set apart, not for isolation, but for a personal and interpersonal purpose; not for distance, but for intimacy” (Hahn, Understanding Our Father, 20). God’s holy name is the basis for the covenant relationship between God and humanity: “The name of God, then, is His own covenant identity, His personal identity. It’s what proves our personal relationship with Him. When we call upon that name – “Our Father!” – God responds as a Father, and we receive His help” (Hahn, Understanding Our Father, 21). The first petition asks that God’s plan of salvation be realized and that God’s holiness be made known to all the nations. God’s name is “hallowed” when his people are delivered from evil, are saved from the slavery of sin, and live as a holy nation and royal priesthood. In asking that God’s name be hallowed, we are asking for God’s assistance so that we do not profane God’s name in the world. We are asking to share in God’s holiness: “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).

2. Thy Kingdom Come: The second petition asks for the coming of God’s Kingdom. “Jesus taught His disciples to pray for the Kingdom because, even though the King has come among us, He has not yet manifested Himself fully. … His Kingdom has entered the world. It is here. Yet it is not fully manifest. … The Kingdom is here, and the King is among us. He is here in all His glory, and He reigns in mystery, in the Eucharist, in the Church” (Hahn, Understanding Our Father, 28-29). When we pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” we are asking that God reign in our hearts and in the world. As the Kingdom expands throughout the world and history, we look forward to and ask for the definitive establishment of the Kingdom at the end of time – when all evil will be vanquished, sin will be eradicated, and death will be no more. When we pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” we recognize three advents (comings) of the Kingdom: The Kingdom has come to us in the past, in the Incarnation; comes to us in the present, in the Eucharist; “and it will come to us in fullness in the future, in the unveiling of divine glory at Christ’s second coming” (Hahn, Understanding Our Father, 30).

3. Thy Will Be Done: The third petition, “Thy will be done,” asks that God’s will be accomplished here on earth. When we pray, we do not seek to change the will of God or inform God of something that he does know. Our prayer changes us, not God. It changes our hearts, not God’s. It disposes our will to do God’s will and us to receive the good things our Father wills to give us. And what God wills for us is our holiness (see 1 Thessalonians 4:3) – that we partake of and, one day, definitively attain God’s eternal and divine life.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you gave us the supreme model of prayer. You taught us to call God our Father. You truly sanctified and glorified your Father’s name. You established your Father’s Kingdom. Your Father’s will was your food. As an obedient Son, you resisted temptation and conquered the evil one.

Living the Word of God: Can I spend some time today praying the “Our Father” slowly, pausing to consider what I am asking for in each one of its seven petitions?