Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him.
This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, holy be your name,
your kingdom, come, your will, be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today,
our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.
Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their
wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive
others, then your Father will not forgive you.
Reflect
“Forgiveness is a divine attribute.” Today’s Gospel passage tells of the famous
prayer taught to us by Jesus, the “Our Father.” After the prayer, Jesus emphasized
the value of forgiveness, stressing the condition as to how we shall receive
forgiveness from our heavenly Father – only when we are able to forgive those
who have wronged us. Structurally, the Matthean version of the “Our Father”
appears to have the submission of our will to the divine will (cf. “Thy will be done”
in v. 10) at the center. The Lucan version of the same prayer does not have it
(cf. Lk. 11:2-5). We can only truly forgive someone after submitting our will to
God’s will. By our own will, we cannot forgive. Forgiveness is something bigger
than our hurt ego. It is divine. Our hurt ego tends to desire vengeance. As
Christians, forgiveness is one of our ways to concretize the prayer,
“Thy will be done.”
© Copyright Bible Diary 2024