Notes and Resources on the Lord’s Prayer

Last night’s RCIA presentation on the Lord’s Prayer went better than I could have ever imagined.  It’s amazing how much the Holy Spirit can do with our own imperfect efforts. For those that are interested, here are some of the quotes I used in preparing for the talk:

Run through all the words of the holy prayers [in Scripture], and I do not think you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord’s Prayer. (St. Augustine)

The Lord’s Prayer is the most perfect of prayers….In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired.  This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them. (St. Thomas Aquinas)

When St. Teresa of Avila prayed the Our Father, she found it almost impossible to get beyond the first two words, for they were like a beautiful country that she wanted to dwell in forever….One of life’s greatest mysteries is contained in the first little word, “our”.  It is the mystery of solidarity….Each individual is to pray in the name of the whole Church, for each Christian is a cell in the one Body of Christ, a member of God’s family, a child of the same Father. (Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity p. 392)

It is the gospel in two words, really: Our Father.  God gives us life and sustains us in love and mercy, and this love binds us to God as children to a father and to one another as brothers and sisters.  Eternally.  Period.”  (Amy Welborn, The Words We Pray, p. 18)

We can appreciate how incredible this intimacy is only if we have first appreciated the opposite truth, God’s awesome holiness and inaccessible transcendence….Jesus has made it possible for us truly to address the infinite abyss of eternal perfection as our Daddy! (Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity p. 393)

The disciples asked Jesus how to pray. He answered them simply, giving them a model: Trust in God as your loving parent, pray that his will be done in your lives and in the world, and them ask him to provide for your needs, forgive your sins, and protect you when you are tempted and tested. What more do we need? (Amy Welborn, The Words We Pray, p. 19)

The following books are also excellent sources of information on the Lord’s Prayer, which I drew from heavily:

• The Catechism of the Catholic Church (of course!)
• The Our Father by Fr. Bill McCarthy: Fr McCarthy gives his own commentary on the Our Father, then includes three more: one by St. Thomas Aquinas from the Summa, one by St. Cyprian and finally the chapters on the Our Father from the Catechism.
• The Words We Pray by Amy Welborn: A must-have for every Catholic’s spiritual library; Welborn explains the origin, meaning and significance of the most common Catholic prayers.
• United States Catholic Catechism for Adults: A helpful adaptation of the universal catechism
• Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft: Another adaptation of the universal catechism, by the renowned philosophy professor

And finally, we ended with the following prayer:

• First, we listened to Charlotte Church sing Malotte’s “The Lord’s Prayer.”
• Then, we finished by taking turns reading St. Francis’ Meditations on the Lord’s Prayer.