Three traditional practices associated
with Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Our first model for prayer is Jesus himself. He must have thought that prayer was vital,
for he often went out alone to a secluded place and prayed. Rarely is the content of his prayer revealed
to us, however. What we do know suggests
that during his prayer time Jesus spoke openly and honestly with his heavenly
Father, holding nothing back. Since he
came to do the Father’s will, we can be sure that he spent time in prayer
discerning what that might involve.
If Jesus found it necessary to spend
time in prayer with the heavenly father, surely we can do no better. Indeed,
when his disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he offered what has
become a classic model for genuine prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer offers a loving and beautiful way to talk with our
heavenly Father. This prayer also is a
brief description of how we are to conduct ourselves in relation to God and to each
other.
To begin with the salutation “Our
Father” is to proclaim and acknowledge that we are all children of God—Jew,
Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, and Muslim alike. With this opening remark, Jesus unites all of
us in the same spiritual family with the same relationship to one another in
God. Thus, to suggest that God prefers
Christians over Muslims, for example, is opposed to what God wants.
To say “Hallowed by thy name” reveals
the meaning of our unity with others.
The holiness of God compels a ministry of inclusion based on justice and
compassion. Indeed, through his own life and mission, Jesus established an
agenda of justice in all of society that will make God’s name holy.
To say “Thy Kingdom come” unites our
plea with the plea that Jesus has for the kingdom to be made present and for
the Father’s Will to be done on earth here and now. When we promote healing, reconciliation,
justice, and compassion, we in fact carry out the Father’s will and our effort makes
the kingdom present here and now.
To say, “Give us this day our daily
bread,” reminds us of our complete dependence on God and our interdependence on
each other. How else can we receive our
daily bread except through our combined effort? This is also God’s way of calling us to a
compassionate response to the needs of others.
To say, “Forgive us our debts as we
forgive others” is a powerful request for the same measure to be used against
us. This request is thus a sure guide
for our response to those who need our forgiveness. It also serves to remind us of the
observation that Jesus made: blessed are
those who show mercy, for mercy shall be theirs.
In short, we might say that the Lord’s
Prayer beckons us to promote economic, political, and legal justice in whatever
way we can, starting with our own families.
Although doing so can be a challenge at times, the Holy Spirit is eager
to show us how to meet this challenge, if we but listen with our hearts.
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