At every Mass we pra.y, "as Jesus taught us" Our Father...etc...A simple, direct prayer addressing God as our father, praising him first, and then presenting our vital needs: food, forgiveness, help to forgive others, fortitude in the face of temptation and deliverance from evil. In praying "The Lord's Prayer", we certainly are not "babbling on like the pagans," (Mt 6:7), especially if we are praying from the heart and paying attention to what we are saying. But if we are rattling the prayer simply from the lips while thinking of other things, we are indeed babbling. We might ask ourselves, then, how do we pray?...Is it from the heart, only if in dire need, simply from routine, "without ceasing", gently or rushed, gratefully or with "entitlement"?
It is indeed a beautiful prayer and long in our tradition, as Bishop Robert Barron reminds us.
The
Lord’s Prayer is the prayer for the Christian journey which has been
offered up consistently for the past two thousand years. Think for a
moment how this prayer links us to all of the great figures in Christian
history, from Peter and Paul to Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Francis of
Assisi, John Henry Newman, G.K. Chesterton, John Paul II, and right up
to the present day.
May we pray it from now on with reverence and attention, from the heart and not simply from the head.
Bro. Rene
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