Praying our way through Lent: returning to God our Father
27 February 2024
Melbourne Catholic
As we travel through the season of Lent, Archbishop Peter A Comensoli has offered some reflections on the simple but powerful words that Jesus taught us through the Our Father. It follows the Archbishop’s earlier reflections on how to enter into this Year of Prayer.
In his latest video reflection, the Archbishop draws on the words spoken by the prophet Joel, which marked the beginning of our Lenten journey: ‘come back to me, with all your heart’ (Joel 2:12).
Lent, he said, ‘is indeed a journey back to the merciful Father, to experience his embrace.
‘Jesus taught us this when he taught us how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer, as we know, is both a personal and a communal prayer. It is to God and with others.
‘Remember how it begins: Our Father ... The “our” is a prayer with others, even when we might be alone, and “Father” a name of intimate embrace, of respect and warmth.’
And while the Our Father is a prayer of both praise and petition, the Archbishop noted that it does not begin with asking but rather with an acknowledgment. ‘It shows us God and who God is for us: your name be holy, your kingdom come, your will be done.
‘It’s about our yearning for God.’
And from the heart of the Our Father prayer comes our own sense of mission.
‘What is central is a petition of forgiveness. To forgive and to be forgiven goes to the heart of the mission of Jesus—to what he came to do for us,’ Archbishop Comensoli said.
‘God’s forgiveness, in Jesus, is on the cross,’ and it is in Jesus’ death that we are re-created.
‘To be forgiven from there (the cross) and to forgive from there is the heart of the Gospel we proclaim.’
Transcript:
Friends, our Lenten journey began with the words of the prophet Joel: ‘come back to me, with all your heart.’
Our Lenten invitation is indeed a journey back to the merciful Father, to experience his embrace.
Jesus taught us this when he taught us how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer, as we know, is both a personal and a communal prayer. It is to God and with others.
Remember how it begins: Our Father. The ‘our'’ is a prayer with others, even when we might be alone, and ‘Father’ a name of intimate embrace, of respect and warmth.
It’s a prayer full of both praise and petition. In a sense, it is a prayer of little prayers put together. It does not begin with asking, it begins with acknowledging. It shows us God and who God is for us. Your name be holy, your kingdom come, your will be done. It’s about our yearning for God.
Then there are the petitions: give us the food we need. Forgive us as we are to forgive. Don’t put us to the test. Deliver us from the evil one.
And central to all of that is the petition of forgiveness. To forgive and to be forgiven goes to the heart of the mission of Jesus, to what he came to do for us. God’s forgiveness, in Jesus, is on the cross. His death for us. From the cross comes our re-creation in forgiveness.
So to be forgiven from there (the cross) and to forgive from there is the heart of the Gospel we proclaim.
So praying our way through Lent this year, returning to God our Father, is a beautiful way in which we participate in our faith.
