Meditation of the Day

Our Father . (Matthew 6:9)

Although it is only a few lines long, the Lord's Prayer is so rich that it
gives us our entire faith in a nutshell. So let's listen to St. Augustine as
he explains what is behind each part of this prayer:

"When we pray, hallowed be your name, we are reminding ourselves to desire
that his name, which in fact is always holy, should also be considered holy
among men. I mean that it should not be held in contempt.

"And as for our saying, your kingdom come, it will surely come whether we
will it or not. But we are stirring up our desires for the kingdom so that
it can come to us and we can deserve to reign there.

"When we say, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are asking
him to make us obedient so that his will may be done in us as it is done in
heaven by his angels.

"When we say, give us this day our daily bread, we mean 'in this world.'
Here we ask for a sufficiency by specifying the most important part of it;
that is, we use the word "bread" to stand for everything.

"When we say, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us, we are reminding ourselves of what we must ask and what we must
do in order to be worthy in turn to receive.

"When we say, lead us not into temptation, we are reminding ourselves to ask
that his help may not depart from us. Otherwise we could be seduced and
consent to some temptation or despair and yield to it.

"When we say, deliver us from evil, we are reminding ourselves to reflect on
the fact that we do not yet enjoy the state of blessedness in which we will
no longer suffer evil. . In this petition the Christian can utter his cries
of sorrow, in it he can shed his tears, and through it he can begin,
continue, and conclude his prayer, whatever the distress in which he finds
himself." (Letter to Proba)

"Thank you, Jesus, for teaching me how to pray! Help me to always pray from
the heart and to trust in your goodness as a child trusts in his father."

2 Corinthians 11:1-11; Psalm 111:1-4,7-8