Friday, November 1, 2013

591. Why pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? (part 3 continuation)



591. Why pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? (part 3 continuation)       


(Comp 591 repetition) The will of the Father is that “all men be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). For this Jesus came: to perfectly fulfill the saving will of his Father. We pray God our Father to unite our will to that of his Son after the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. We ask that this loving plan be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven. It is through prayer that we can discern “what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2) and have the “steadfastness to do it” (Hebrews 10:36).

“In brief”

(CCC 2860) In the third petition, we ask our Father to unite our will to that of his Son, so as to fulfill his plan of salvation in the life of the world.

To deepen and explain

(CCC 2826) By prayer we can discern "what is the will of God" and obtain the endurance to do it (Rom 12:2; cf. Eph 5:17; cf. Heb 10:36). Jesus teaches us that one enters the kingdom of heaven not by speaking words, but by doing "the will of my Father in heaven" (Mt 7:21). 

Reflection

(CCC 2827) "If any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him" (Jn 9:31; cf. 1 Jn 5:14). Such is the power of the Church's prayer in the name of her Lord, above all in the Eucharist. Her prayer is also a communion of intercession with the all-holy Mother of God (Cf. Lk 1:38, 49) and all the saints who have been pleasing to the Lord because they willed his will alone: It would not be inconsistent with the truth to understand the words, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," to mean: "in the Church as in our Lord Jesus Christ himself"; or "in the Bride who has been betrothed, just as in the Bridegroom who has accomplished the will of the Father" (St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. 2, 6, 24: PL 34, 1279). [END]  


(Next question: What is the sense of the petition “Give us this day our daily bread”?)   

 

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