This article first appeared in Our Sunday Visitor magazine. Subscribe to receive the monthly magazine here.
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three pillars of Lenten discipline. At first glance, prayer may not strike us as being as difficult as abstinence from meat on Fridays, obligatory fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, or a voluntary sacrifice of coffee, sweets or social media. Likewise, we may feel less challenged by prayer than by the call to a monetary tithe. And yet, if we reflect a little longer, we will readily admit: Prayer is hard — indeed, it is the hardest of the three pillars.
The apostle Paul acknowledges his spiritual limitations and those of all humanity when he writes to the Church of Rome (Rom 8:26-27),
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
We do not know how to pray as we ought. I find comfort that a man who could describe himself as “blameless” under the law, who was “caught up to the third heaven” and to whom our resurrected Lord appeared on the road to Damascus could pen these words confessing his own weakness in prayer (Phil 3:6, 2 Cor 12:2; Acts 9). I am not alone in my fumbling fits and starts in the spiritual life.
Learning to pray
If we want to learn to pray as we ought, we should turn to Christ the Teacher. Vatican II’s Dei Verbum (“Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation”) teaches that Jesus revealed himself in his words and deeds (No. 4). Jesus teaches us to pray verbally in his response to an unnamed disciple (Lk 11:1-4):
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
The Lord’s Prayer is identified by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the “fundamental Christian prayer” (No. 2759). The ancient ecclesiastical writer Tertullian describes the Our Father as the “summary of the whole gospel” (No. 2761). In the language of St. Thomas Aquinas, it is the “most perfect of prayers” (No. 2774).
We are more familiar with Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, which he places at the center of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Mt 6:9-13). The variance in language should not trouble us, for “Jesus did not give us a formula to repeat mechanically” (Catechism, No. 2766). The exact formulations of Matthew and Luke are not the only way to address God. Jesus likely proclaimed a version of this prayer more than once in his three-year preaching ministry. The crowds following Jesus ebbed and flowed as he traveled. The incarnate Lord desired that all men and women learn this lesson in prayer.
The anatomy of the Our Father
The significance of the Our Father exceeds its liturgical or personal recitation. It is a model prayer as well as a catechesis on prayer:
The Spirit of the Lord gives new form to our desires, those inner movements that animate our lives. Jesus teaches us this new life by his words; he teaches us to ask for it by our prayer. The rightness of our life in him will depend on the rightness of our prayer (Catechism, No. 2764).
After his ordination to the priesthood, the young St. Augustine requested of his bishop, Valerius, a sabbatical for the study of Scripture. During the granted time, Augustine wrote “On the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.” In fact, it is Augustine who christened Matthew 5-7 “the Sermon on the Mount.” His commentary divides the text of the Our Father into its opening address and seven subsequent petitions. His meditations are worth summarizing.
The words “our Father” are possible because of our spiritual adoption in baptism. The apostle Paul twice describes the reception of the Spirit empowering us to name God as Father:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God (Gal 4:4-7).
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ — if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Rom 8:14-17).
“Hallowed be thy name” is the greatest of all petitions. God’s name is already most holy, so our worship cannot add to his majesty. However, Augustine contends he can be hallowed by his creatures: in the reverence of Christians and by the preaching of the Gospel.
“Thy kingdom come” is the prayer of the Church for the triumphal return of Our Lord, for when his reign will be made visible to all creation.
“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” can be interpreted several ways. We pray that we may be obedient to God’s precepts, that we may delight in the law and not allow earthly pleasures or sufferings to stand in the way of God, and that the bridal Church may live as Christ lives.
“Give us this day our daily bread” can similarly be read through several lenses. The Lord’s Prayer is a daily reminder to seek first the kingdom of God and not be concerned about tomorrow (Mt 6:33-34). It is the prayer of the Church nourished by the daily sacrifice of the Eucharist. Moreover, “our daily bread” is the soul restored to life by attentiveness to God and his will.
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” is necessary if we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (cf. Mt 5:44). We cannot pray for someone we have not forgiven.
“Lead us not into temptation” is the prayer of all tempted to sin. We cannot entirely avoid the experience of temptation, but we can ask for God’s grace that we not give in to temptation. God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, provided we pray as he instructed. The image of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the Book of Daniel is helpful (Dan 3). They were not spared from the furnace, but they were protected from the harmful effects of the flames.
Finally, “deliver us from evil” is the prayer of one who finds himself already in danger, spiritual or physical. We plead that God free us from our trials.
Jesus at prayer
St. Augustine was our guide to the Lord’s Prayer; Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and the Catechism will be our guides for watching Jesus at prayer in the Gospel of Luke. Prior to becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Ratzinger published a book entitled, “Behold the Pierced One.” In it, he writes,
According to the testimony of Holy Scripture, the center of the life and person of Jesus is his constant communication with the Father. … For the entire gospel testimony is unanimous that Jesus’ words and deed flowed from his most intimate communion with the Father. … Luke, of all the Evangelists, lays stress on this feature. He shows that the essential events of Jesus’ activity proceeded from the core of his personality and that this core was his dialogue with the Father.
Jesus’ prayer, especially in Luke, reveals to us his identity as Son. Jesus “prays before decisive moments of his mission” (Catechism, No. 2600). Jesus prays at his baptism in the Jordan (Lk 3:21-22):
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
Prayer is a window into eternity. We see all three persons of the Trinity at Jesus’ baptism: The voice from heaven is the Father, Jesus is the Son, and the dove is the Holy Spirit. Also contained in this text is the relationship of prayer to baptism. We can only pray to God as our Father because Jesus has first prayed to him as his Father. Divine adoption is a gift; it is received and not earned. The Father declares Jesus’ sonship from heaven as he does at each of our baptisms.
Jesus also prayed before he chose the Twelve Apostles: “Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles” (Lk 6:12-13).
The Church is born from the prayer of Jesus to the Father. The Twelve, the New Israel founded by Jesus, are named apostles after an all-night vigil held by the God-man. “Jesus often draws apart to pray in solitude, on a mountain, preferably at night” (Catechism, No. 2602).
The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor also happens when Jesus is at prayer (Lk 9:28-32):
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
Prayer is an encounter with the glory of God who “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see” (1 Tim 6:16). The appearance of Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus is illuminating. Why these two figures? Certainly, they represent the Law and the Prophets. But even more, they are the prophets of theophany. A theophany is a manifestation of divine glory. On Sinai, the Lord descended in a cloud and proclaimed his name before Moses, who was hidden in the cleft of a rock (Ex 34:5). Moses saw God’s “back” but not his “face” (Ex 33:23). Even this partial revelation left Moses’s skin shining (Ex 34:29).
Not all encounters with God happen with the clarity and outward marvels of Moses’ Sinai experience. Elijah, fleeing from the persecutions of the wicked queen Jezebel, finds himself on the same mountain as Moses, though identified by its alternative name, Horeb. In a cave reminiscent of Moses’ cleft in the rock, Elijah hears the Lord pass him by (1 Kgs 19:9-13). God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake nor the fire. He was in a “still small voice” (1 Kgs 19:12, RSVCE). The smallness of God’s presence is an important lesson to us in this Lenten season. Our fasting, almsgiving and prayer should calm our disquieted hearts to be more sensitive to the subtle promptings of God’s Spirit. We aren’t doing something wrong if we don’t encounter God in dramatic ways like Moses. We are being invited into the desert with Jesus and Elijah to pray to our Father and to listen for his whispers.
One final reflection on the Transfiguration is that prayer should leave us — and those around us — changed. Moses’s face shines and he enters a covenant with God on behalf of Israel. Elijah, who was in despair, is consoled and directed by God to a faithful remnant of 7,000 Israelites who had not worshipped Baal (1 Kgs 19:18).
Let’s meditate on one last scene from Luke’s Gospel: Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (22:39-46).
He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.”
St. Augustine identified the Our Father with the Abba of Galatians 4 and Romans 8. When is the only time that Jesus uses the name Abba, “Daddy”? It is only in the garden on the night before his passion (Mk 14:36). The “Abba” is born out of suffering. Luke’s account emphasizes that he “prayed more earnestly” in his anguish. In our lives, whether in Lent or at other times, we are confronted with suffering. In suffering, we should imitate Jesus and call upon the Father. The earnest prayer of a child looks to God as Abba, the one who “will wipe away the tears from all faces” (Is 25:8, cf. Rev 21:4).
When we feel like Paul or the unnamed disciple and we know not how to pray, we can open our Bible, where Jesus teaches us by word and by deed. In addition to his inspired word, Jesus gives us his Spirit so that prayers too deep for words can be carried up to God’s heavenly throne. We have faith that our prayers are heard, for we pray with, in and through the Son who has himself offered all of humanity to the Father. Jesus “includes all men in his prayer. … It was for this that the Father sent him” (Catechism, no. 2602).
