586. What does the phrase “Who art in heaven” mean? (2794-2796 2802)
(Comp 586) This biblical expression does
not indicate a place but a way of being: God transcends everything. The
expression refers to the majesty, the holiness of God, and also to his presence
in the hearts of the just. Heaven, or the Father’s house, constitutes our true
homeland toward which we are moving in hope while we are still on earth.
“Hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), we live already in this homeland.
“In brief”
(CCC 2802) "Who art in heaven" does not refer to a
place but to God's majesty and his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven,
the Father's house, is the true homeland toward which we are heading and to
which, already, we belong.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2794) This biblical expression does not mean a place
(“space"), but a way of being; it does not mean that God is distant, but
majestic. Our Father is not "elsewhere": he transcends everything we
can conceive of his holiness. It is precisely because he is thrice holy that he
is so close to the humble and contrite heart. "Our Father who art in
heaven" is rightly understood to mean that God is in the hearts of the
just, as in his holy temple. At the same time, it means that those who pray
should desire the one they invoke to dwell in them (St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. in monte 2, 5, 18: PL 34,
1277). "Heaven" could also be those who bear the image of the
heavenly world, and in whom God dwells and tarries (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 5:11: PG 33, 1117).
Reflection
(CCC 2795) The symbol of the heavens refers us back to the
mystery of the covenant we are living when we pray to our Father. He is in
heaven, his dwelling place; the Father's house is our homeland. Sin has exiled
us from the land of the covenant (Cf. Gen 3), but conversion of heart enables
us to return to the Father, to heaven (Jer 3:19-4:1a; Lk 15:18, 21). Jn Christ,
then, heaven and earth are reconciled (Cf. Isa 45:8; Ps 85:12), for the Son
alone "descended from heaven" and causes us to ascend there with him,
by his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension (Jn 3:13; 12:32; 14 2-3; 16:28;
20:17; Eph 4:9-10; Heb 1:3; 2:13).
(Next question: What is the structure of
the Lord’s Prayer?)
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