As a cradle Catholic, one of the first prayers I learned was the Our Father.  As a family, we said the rosary every night until I was 7 or 8 years old.  It was a prayer I said often in my early years.  But what I was doing was just repeating it, not praying it. Perhaps that early repetition laid the groundwork so I could pray this prayer more intentionally and come to appreciate it more fully as an adult.

Teaching us to pray is yet another example of how much our God loves us. Being well acquainted with our human frailties, God constructed a prayer that would help us move beyond our earthly fears and doubts so we are able to see and respond to our neighbors in need.

The more I have pondered this prayer the last few days, the more I have become captivated by its simplicity and power in each line.

Our Father who art in heaven,:
This line grounds us and reminds us who we are and whom we belong to.  

hallowed be thy name,: 
God’s name is holy, sacred…remember that.

thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
God is planting the seed that our communities and our world can, one day, become more like God’s kingdom.

Give us this day our daily bread;
We are being given permission to ask for what we need whether its food or some other need or request for help.   

and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
The older I get, the more I have come to understand the power of forgiveness.  One of my favorite lines from The Color Purple by Alice Walker is that “Meanness kills.”  It not only harms other people, it also hurts us. Holding on to grudges and clinging to past hurts diminishes the quality of our lives along with our capacity for compassion. How can we help God’s kingdom come if we can’t forgive ourselves and each other?

and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. 
God is encouraging us to stay to course—to pursue building God’s kingdom in the here and now.  Don’t get sidetracked by others or by your own desires.

Perhaps if we all focus on really praying the words of the Our Father, Isaiah’s words will become a much needed reality for ourselves, our neighbors, and our world.

So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55: 11