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Communion Rite: Part 4: ‘Our Father’
2. ‘Hallowed be thy name’.
What does this phrase
mean?
Saint Cyprian in his reflection commented that it is not, as if we think
we make God holy by our prayers. Rather, we are asking that his name may be
made holy in us. We pray that we who have been hallowed (made holy) in
Baptism may persevere in what we have begun.
Or perhaps to put it another way
‘may your name be held holy’. Looking at this phrase in this light means
that it also connects with the commandments.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) also tells
us
‘…And so, in adoration, this invocation is sometimes understood as
praise and thanksgiving. However, this petition is here taught to us by Jesus
as an optative: a petition, a desire, and an expectation in which God and man
are involved. Beginning with this first petition to Our Father, we are
immersed in the inner most mystery of his Godhead and the drama of the
salvation of our humanity. Asking the Father that his name be made holy draws
us into his plan of loving kindness for the fullness of time, “according to his
purpose which he set forth in Christ,” that we might be holy and blameless
before him in love”’ (Para 2807 p.673).
There are many books written on the Our Father. I am currently reading Our Father by Fr Ken Barker MGL. It is beautifully written- simple yet profound and thought provoking. It is drawing me in further to a deeper relationship with God as Father.
So, we might want to ponder
further:
What does this phase mean to
you?
What is the personal challenge
in this phrase for you?
How might we heighten this
desire and expectation and make this petition our own?
How might we be drawn into his
loving plan and be holy and blameless before him in love this
week?
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