Adapted from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church starting at Paragraph 578

The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father”
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
 
The origin of the Our Father

• Jesus taught us the Our Father, on the day in which one of his disciples saw him praying and asked him, 
• “Lord, teach us to pray”
• There are two places in the bible where we found this story and the text of the prayer: 
  • Luke 11:1
  • Matthew 6:9-13.

“OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN” 

• We can come close to God in prayer because God is our Father,  Jesus is our Brother and the Holy Spirit empowers us to be a part of the family of God
• Calling God "Father" helps us enter the mystery of God in a new and intimate way. 
• God is not a far off unknowable, tyrant playing with the hearts and lives of his "subjects"
• Rather, God is a loving Father who lays it all down for us out of love.
• Also, calling God Father helps us be more aware of the truth of the loving nature of God
• We say "our Father" and not "my Father" because we are part of a larger family of God around the world, and also joined with all the faithful people in heaven.

 “Who art in heaven”

• This phrase doesn't so much describe a place, but a way of existing
• God is over and above all things.
• God IS majesty, IS Holiness, IS Power, IS Love
• Thus when we refer to heaven we refer to our truest home - God
• All of human life is pointing toward being fulling incorporated into God's Love and Life.

THE SEVEN PETITIONS 

• The Lord's Prayer contains seven things we ask of God made
• The first three, are more God-centered, and draw us toward him for his glory;
• So we begin the prayer focusing on God's greatness then turn to asking for our needs
• The last four petitions are us coming to God asking for mercy because of our sinfulness and our need for  forgiveness

“Hallowed be thy Name”

•  To hallow is to "make holy"
• Thus when we say "Hallowed be thy name" we are acknowledging the greatness and holiness of God
• Saying this also is a way of praying that God's name would be blessed and made holy everywhere in the world

“Thy Kingdom come”

• In this part of the prayer we are asking for Jesus to return to Earth and establish his everlasting Kingdom
• Also - this prayer asks for more people in the world to see God as their King.
• God's kingdom is not a political and physical kingdom, rather it is a Kingdom of l
  • ove and salvation
  • peace and Justice
  • welcome and holiness.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

• It is God's will that all peoples be saved and brought into His wonderful love.
• God's plan is for all people to experience this love on earth, just as it is in heaven: perfectly
• Lastly we acknowledge that God has a will for each of our lives 
• When we pray this we are inviting God to make his perfect will come to pass in our lives.

The 4 Petitions for our needs
“Give us this day our daily bread”

• With this request we are asking God to take care of our daily needs
• We are also acknowledging that all goodness and all good things come from God
• We are also asking, not just for our personal needs, but for the needs of those we love
• This prayer also helps us stand in solidarity with those people in the world who have more needs than we do
• The more spiritual aspect to this petition is a recognition that we do not only have physical needs, but we also need God
• The Body and Blood of Jesus we receive in Holy Communion is the most perfect way to fill this spiritual need

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”

• Asking this is a way of us to acknowledge before God that we are sinners
• And, at the same time, as we admit our sinfulness, we are also asking for his mercy so we can have these sins forgiven.
• An important thing to remember is that in this prayer for our forgiveness is tied to our willingness to forgive those we need to forgive

“Lead us not into temptation”

• Temptation is all around us, and in this request we are asking for God's power and grace to help us avoid moments of temptation so we will not fall into sin.
• This prayer also unites us to Jesus who was tempted for 40 days in the desert.

“But deliver us from evil”

• Evil refers to Satan and the power of evil in our world
• Jesus already defeated Satan by the power of His death and resurrection
• Yet, the power of evil is real and can still impact our lives
• Thus, we pray that God will free us from the power of Satan and keep us save until the return of Jesus.

"Amen"

• The word "amen" means "I believe" or "So be it"
• Thus, when we end a prayer with this word we are stating that we are in agreement with what has been said.

The final doxology
"For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever,"

• Doxology is a word that means: A spoken/sung expression of praise of God
• This ending was not originally included in the Lord's Prayer, It is not officially a part of the  prayer.
• It is first found in the first or second century in a book called the Didache
• Ot comes from similar phrases found in various letters of St. Paul ex:
  • “To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever” (Romans 16:27).

This final doxology brings us back to the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer:

• the glory of his name
• the coming of his Kingdom
• and the power of his saving will
• But these prayers are now proclaimed as adoration and thanksgiving, as opposed to petitions of prayer.