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."
There was something compelling and vibrant about the prayer life of Jesus that caught the interest of his disciples. He would rise early to pray (see Mark 1:36) and even stay up all night in prayer (see Luke 6:12). Jesus praying was associated with some of the more dramatic revelations of his identity, such as at his baptism (see Luke 3:21) and his transfiguration (see Luke 9:28). Maybe we know an individual who seems to have a special line to God, who, perhaps, receive words of shocking prescience for others, or who really seem to be visiting a person rather than performing a ritual when they go to pray. Jesus must have been like this but infinitely more so. No wonder the disciples wanted in. Fortunately, it was standard practice for rabbis to teach their disciples to pray, so they had a plausible reason to ask to be included in what might otherwise have some too holy and unattainable.
Father
With the prayer Jesus taught he did not present a mere formula. He invited his disciples to share in what was uniquely his: his relationship to his Father in heaven. This was likely more intimate than anyone would have dared to presume to pray on his own. The disciples knew that God was the Father of Israel, the nation. But to address God as the Father of each as an individual was simply not done. Or it was not, until Jesus invited them, gave them the grace to partake of this same relationship which was properly and absolutely speaking his alone.
hallowed be your name
Let us note that the petition is not, 'May we hallow your name', because, simply, without the Father's help there would be no way for us to have any sense of the proper treatment of his name, which was a proxy for his entire identity and essence. The prayer is instead something more like 'Teach the world the holiness of your name. Reveal your holiness to each individual heart and mind'. It is more of a prayer requesting theophany, like that Moses experienced at the burning bush, than one asking for help with piety. Assuredly, proper piety can only know due proportion after such revelation has occurred.
your Kingdom come.
For Luke, the coming of the Kingdom must have included the world coming into conformity with God's will. It was not simply an earthly Kingdom like that of David, but rather a spiritual Kingdom, the shape of which was expressed in the many parables Jesus taught about it. Above all, the Kingdom was the place where the King himself reigned in the hearts of women and men. Therefore Jesus could teach that the Kingdom was in the midst of the people or within them, but have his disciples pray for the Kingdom to come in its fullness. By the cross this Kingdom of light overcame the kingdom of darkness, that of the enemy, which previously held unassailable sway over the world. On the day of his death Jesus answered a petition much like this one, made by the good thief, who asked to be remembered when Jesus came into his Kingdom (see Luke 23:42).
Give us each day our daily bread
Much as the Israelites in the desert needed to rely on the daily manna to sustain them on their journey so too do we need to rely on God for our needs. We ask him for what we need for the day, because Jesus had said, "do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself" (see Matthew 6:34). He fulfills this need not only with material goods, but also with spiritual wisdom that enables us to do God's will. This is the bread about which Jesus said, "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (see John 4:32). He also fulfills this petition by giving us his own body as our daily bread in the Eucharist, foreshadowing the final fulfillment in the banquet of the Kingdom (for the coming of which we just prayed in the previous petition).
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
The coming of the Kingdom was meant to inaugurate the true year of jubilee, of which past such years were merely foreshadowing. For this reason it was appropriate and necessary to remit all debts of sin, so that there be no hinderance to the fullness of celebration.
and do not subject us to the final test.
We are called to recognize that it is only by the protection of God that we can hope to avoid sin and persevere to the end. Only by grace can we avoid a final test in which we, left to ourselves, could only fail and be found wanting. We are not to take this protection for granted. He has promised never to test us beyond our strength, but meaning thereby that we agree to surrender our strength to his own strength and to always seek to be covered by his protection. We know that on our own we are all too fallible, all too likely to assume we are strong enough alone and then fall flat on our faces. If it could even happen to Peter, after all, it can happen to us.
And when Cephas came to Antioch,
I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.
Let us treasure and give thanks for the way of prayer Jesus taught to his disciples, and, in turn to us. Let us embrace the intimacy with the Father who loves us to which we have been invited, receiving thereby everything we truly need, every grace and blessing.
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