There is a certain paradox in seeking to hallow God’s name since by definition God is holy. This ‘hallowing’ of God’s name rebounds on ourselves, so that we may preserve over time the grace given to us in Baptism. There is a strict connection between the holiness of God and His people. ‘You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy’ (Lev 20:26). God’s name is therefore hallowed through our actions as Christians, both by ourselves and to others. This phrase of the Our Father also points to those who do not yet know God. This hallowing of God’s name in our lives has been both fulfilled and made possible by Jesus when He prays, ‘Holy Father, protect in your name those whom you have given me’. (Jn 17:11)
The New Testament word ‘basileia’ has a richness of meaning, and may be translated using three English words, kingship, kingdom, or reign. Each of these words emphasises a particular facet of the ‘basileia’ for what one prays in the Our Father. The Kingdom of God both lies ahead, and has been proclaimed since the Last Supper (I will not drink of this cup until I enter my kingdom), and is now present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist involves the coming and presence of Christ, so the Kingdom and Jesus Christ are intimately connected. To pray for the kingdom to come is effectively to pray for Jesus to come. Thus the cry, ‘Marantha, Come, Lord Jesus’ is intimately connected with the ‘Our Father’.
The final coming of Christ does not detract from the intermediate mission of the Church. The establishment of the kingdom is the continuous work of the Holy Spirit, and so the struggle between flesh and spirit characterises the age in which the believer lives. The growth of the kingdom may not be simply identified with human progress. They are distinct since human progress is not the vocation to eternal life and, without a spiritual framework, human progress in whatever field may easily be perverted to sinful ends. However, human progress, such as advances in sanitation, health care, educational provision, etc., should serve the promotion of justice and peace, thus respecting the true nature of humanity as befitting the children of God. Put more strongly, Man’s vocation to eternal life is not independent of but actually reinforces his duty to serve the needs of justice and peace in the secular world.
Jesus gave the ‘Our Father’ in answer to His disciples’ question on how to pray. The Our Father remains the key pattern for all Christian prayer. The earliest liturgical traditions found in the late first century include the well-known addition, ‘for yours is the kingdom, the power and glory for ever’. This earliest liturgical usage is continued in the Anglican liturgy, whilst the Catholic liturgy places this doxology in a slightly different place.
The Our Father, since it describes the work of the Son in relation to the Father, sets the context for the correct ordering of our desires. The disciples should model themselves on Jesus Christ, the implied instrument of the first three petitions. The gift of the Holy Spirit allows the Christian to pray this prayer as Christ, from the inside as an adopted son and daughter. This prayer to the Father thus involves the Son and Holy Spirit, and so becomes a work of the Trinity.
This prayer lies at the heart of all the Church’s liturgies. During the earliest days of the Church this prayer was recited three times a day, replacing the then customary Jewish prayers of blessing. This tradition continues in its recitation at Morning and Evening Prayer. The Our Father is recited after the rite of Baptism in recognition of the changed status of the newly baptised. It is recited between the Eucharistic prayer and before the reception of Communion at Mass. It sums up the petitions answered in calling down the Holy Spirit by the priest upon the bread and wine, and in the prayers after the consecration. The prayer anticipates the banquet of the kingdom, of which every Mass is a foretaste.
The introduction to the Our Father at Mass contains the admonition, ‘we dare to say’ reminding the faithful that no-one has a right to call God Father, and so enter into a relationship with him unless invited by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus Christ is able to bring us into God’s presence. Moses had to take his shoes off, and stand back when encountering God in the burning bush. The Christian enters this relationship in simplicity of heart, and in the certainty of being loved, and so doingmay intone this prayer.
The expression ‘who art in heaven’ describes the way of God’s being, not His location. He is not elsewhere, but transcends every place and time, and His complete otherness allows Him to come close, especially to the pure of heart. The symbol of heaven refers to the covenant, the relationship established by God with humanity. Since the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, man has longed to return to his homeland, but this is only possible through a conversion of heart. Jesus Christ has reconciled heaven and earth, and heaven is now attainable through His Cross, Resurrection and Ascension. The Christian in reciting this phrase recognises that they sit in the heavenly places, while still striving to reach the kingdom. Heaven is both now and not yet.
The Our Father consists of seven petitions. The first three take us towards God for His own sake. The first concern is not ourselves but God; thy name, thy kingdom, thy will. These supplications have been fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also point forward to the point when God is ‘all in all’.
The second series of petitions has the same pattern as the Eucharistic Prayer inoffering our expectations to attract the attention of the Father. The petitions concern the present life; ‘give us, forgive us’; and also the battle towards the victory of life in prayer; ‘lead us, deliver us’.
To ask that the Father’s name be held holy is to be drawn into the drama of salvation that begins in the Old Testament and reaches its conclusion in Jesus Christ because He has made visible the holiness of His name. The holiness of God is His inaccessible centre, which is made visible through His revelation of glory. The name of God is revealed slowly, and only after He has triumphed gloriously, when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. The holiness of God is mirrored in the holy Law, and the holiness of the people. The continual rebellion against their holiness is the subject of many prophetic denunciations.
The final priestly prayer of Jesus involves the sanctification of both the name of the Father and the Son; ‘Holy Father….for their sake I consecrate myself, that they may be consecrated in the truth’, and leads into the sanctification of the believer.
