11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

This is how you are to pray: “Our Father . . . ” 

When Jesus teaches the disciples to pray, he begins by telling them to address God as their Father. Think about how amazing this must have been for the disciples to hear! Certainly, God was the Father of Israel, but now Jesus was encouraging them to approach God as he did—as their very own Father, their “Abba” or “Papa” (Mark 14:36).

This is the gift that Jesus gave us—that we are able to call God our Father and that we can be secure in knowing that we are his beloved sons or daughters. This is the core of our identity, the foundation of our existence.

But we can often forget this truth because we are used to being identified by what we do, not by who we are. For example, how would people describe you? They might identify you by your occupation: lawyer, nurse, teacher, laborer. Or they might say you are good at business, sports, or art. All well and good, but if we think of our worth in terms of our performance, then we can easily fall into a performance approach with God—as if we have to somehow earn the privilege of being a child of God.

That’s why we need to spend time with the Lord each day so that he can continually remind us of our true identity. It is through prayer that we come to know who he is and who we are in relation to him. We also come to see that even when we fall short of what he is asking of us, it does not affect our identity. God is still our Father, we are still his children, and his mercy is always available to us.

When we understand that we are beloved sons and daughters of the Father, we can join God in the mission he has for us without ever worrying about “measuring up” or performing perfectly. We are able to work from a relationship with the Father, not for a relationship with him. We do the work because of God’s love for us and through the grace he gives us, not to get into his good graces.

Today, pray the Our Father slowly several times, lingering over those first two words. Then thank and praise God for inviting you to call him “Father” and for asking you to join him in building his kingdom on earth.

“Our Father, hallowed be thy name!”

Sirach 48:1-14
Psalm 97:1-7
Matthew 6:7-15