The demand to forgive is part of the drive animated by the Holy Spirit, towards perfect love, which elsewhere in the Gospel is described as the new commandment (Jn 13:34) and as the ‘love that does not come to an end’ (Jn 13:1). The parable of the merciless servant (Mt 18:23-35) finishes with Jesus’ request that every disciple forgives from the depths of their heart. It is only in this way that the Holy Spirit can transform feelings of injury into compassion and hurt suffered into intercession.
The Our Father therefore extends to the forgiveness of enemies, and is a highpoint of prayer because its recitation demonstrates that love is greater than sin. The effective life of prayer, of seeking union with God, requires therefore an attitude of forgiveness towards others in daily life.
‘And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive… (CCC2838-2842)
The first petition, in seeking to hallow God’s name at the beginning of the prayer, draws us into seeking to become holy as well. The current petition recognises that the propensity to sin has not disappeared with faith in the Father, and the believer has to turn once again to the source of all forgiveness, the Father. However, this mercy cannot penetrate our hearts unless we have begun to forgive others. Love within the Body of Christ, the Church, is indivisible, and this petition forms a virtuous circle, of seeking and offering forgiveness. This cycle is impossible to begin unless through the explicit recognition of God’s gracious action. Jesus repeats this injunction when he demands perfection and mercy in imitation of the Father, all of which is summed up in His new commandment, ‘that you love one another even as I have loved you’. (Jn 13:34). This imitation can never be one of external coercion, but of an internal willing imitation. (To be continued).
The Our Father: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ (CCC2832-2837)
The charitable dynamic within the phrase ‘Give us our daily bread’ is the impetus for solidarity with the poor, through sharing, out of love, the material and spiritual goods of the earth. The emphasis on ‘our’ highlights the common ownership of all things, and their ultimate source in God. Connected with the sense of solidarity comes a profound gratitude for the goods given to us, something positively accepted when families say grace before meals.
This sharing of the world’s goods implies another sharing of something more profound still, the Word of God: ‘Man does not live on bread alone but… by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Mt 4:4). This Word is the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, and the words, ‘this day’ teaches that each believer both requires this bread, and that this is made possible because of the ever-present Day of the Lord, the Resurrection. Another translation from the original Greek of the Our Father translates ‘daily’ as super-essential, in other words, necessary and divine. This day is an ancient Biblical expression that proclaims the powerful action of God. The Psalmist wrote, ‘You are my Son. Today I have begotten you’. The early Church Fathers applied this to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and whose donation of the Holy Spirit makes all sacraments possible.
