1 / 17

Understanding The Lord's Prayer: Uniting Spirituality and Communion

Discover the profound teachings within the Lord's Prayer as a summary of the Gospel and a guide for deepening your relationship with God the Father. Learn the significance of each petition and the importance of connecting beliefs with prayer life.

greenfieldj
Download Presentation

Understanding The Lord's Prayer: Uniting Spirituality and Communion

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Jesus Taught us to Pray USCCA Chapter 36 Friday, December 20, 2019

  2. December 20, 2019 • The Our Father is also known as the ”Lord’s Prayer” because it comes from Jesus Himself. • The Our Father is found in the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Gospel of St. Luke. • It is at the heart of every individual and communal prayer.

  3. December 20, 2019 • “Our Father”: • Jesus revealed God to us as our heavenly Father. • Jesus called God ‘Abba’, denoting a close, personal, intimate friendship with the Father.

  4. December 20, 2019 • “Our Father”: • While God has no gender like human beings, He is above all earthly categories of ‘father’ and is the source of all fatherhood. • The word ‘Our’ implies that we are a people untied by God in the New Covenant, in communion with each other and the Holy Spirit.

  5. December 20, 2019 • “Who Art in Heaven”: • Heaven is not a place but the majesty and presence of God in the hearts of the just. • Heaven is the culmination of our relationship with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

  6. December 20, 2019 • The seven petitions of the ‘Our Father’ are: • Hallowed by Thy Name. • We do not make God holy, but rather we recognize Him as the source of all holiness. • God’s name was revealed slowly in the Scriptures. • In Baptism we become God’s children and can call Him ‘Father’.

  7. December 20, 2019 • The seven petitions of the ‘Our Father’ are: • Thy kingdom come. • The Kingdom of God is based on Christ-like love. • While the Kingdom is here because of Christ, we await its fulfillment at the end of the age.

  8. December 20, 2019 • The seven petitions of the ‘Our Father’ are: • Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. • We ask our Father to unite our will with the will of Jesus. • We do God’s will by answering Jesus’ call to discipleship and by living lives of faith.

  9. December 20, 2019 • The seven petitions of the ‘Our Father’ are: • Give us this day our daily bread. • This refers to our daily nourishment for our bodies. • This also refers to our spiritual nourishment received in the Eucharist. • This includes asking God to take care of our material needs, also challenging us to take care of the poor.

  10. December 20, 2019 • The seven petitions of the ‘Our Father’ are: • e. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. • We beg God for His forgiveness and mercy. • The condition for receiving this mercy is our forgiveness of our enemies.

  11. December 20, 2019 • The seven petitions of the ‘Our Father’ are: • And lead us not into temptation. • We ask God to not allow us to fall into the path of sin. • This petition calls us to grow in virtue. • We ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to resist temptation and avoid the near occasion of sin.

  12. December 20, 2019 • The seven petitions of the ‘Our Father’ are: • But deliver us from evil. • Evil is real. It has begun with the fall of Satan and now has the possibility to separate us from God at the expense of our salvation. • The petition entrusts us to God so the devil will not lead us to sin.

  13. December 20, 2019 5. The Final Doxology: • This concludes the Lord’s Prayer, and was added to the “Our Father” by the Church. • As words of praise, they echo the first three petitions.

  14. December 20, 2019 5. The Final Doxology: • ‘Amen’, means ‘so be it’; it summarizes our response to God in which we give our complete selves to Him.

  15. December 20, 2019 6. As Christians, there should be a profound connection between the beliefs of the Church and our prayer life. • The two are inseparable and support each other. • Prayer requires effort on our part.

  16. December 20, 2019 6. As Christians, there should be a profound connection between the beliefs of the Church and our prayer life. • Prayer is a matter of the heart, which is at the very center of ourselves. • Doctrine is not purely an academic endeavor; it is intimately connected with the Person of Jesus.

  17. December 20, 2019 For Discussion: • How is the Lord’s Prayer a summary of the Gospel? • How can the Lord’s Prayer help a person who has had a difficult relationship with his/her own father? How could you help a person who has had a difficult relationship with their earthly fathers grow in their love for God as Father? • How can our recitation of the word ‘Amen’ become less rote and have more meaning and appreciation?

More Related