“At the Savior’s command, and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say…”
Every Mass we pray as Jesus teaches us in our Gospel, beginning with perhaps the most radical thing a human being can possibly say in reference to God: “Our Father…”
Jesus is the Son of God; by right, only He ought to be able to pray in this way. Yet, when His disciples ask to be taught how to pray Jesus does not give us a technique, does not teach a method of prayer, but instead—let this enter deep into your heart—teaches us how to pray as He Himself prays. He does not, in this moment, take the role of a teacher over His students, but the role of a brother passing on something to His younger siblings, inviting us into His own relationship with the Father as fellow sons and daughters of the Most High God. The Lord’s Prayer is not merely the prayer He taught and composed: it is quite literally His prayer. He has shown us His heart, His desires, the things He prays for, that we might desire the same things He desires: the love of the Father, the honor of His Holy Name, the coming of His Kingdom, His daily care for His needs, the forgiveness of sins (not His own, of course), and that the final test—recall His prayers in Gethsemane—might not be permitted.
Let us bear this in mind the next time we pray this precious prayer; we dare to address our Creator as our Father, and we pray not merely in the words Jesus taught us, but the prayer of His own Heart.