Lk 11:1-13
1[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name,/ your kingdom come./ 3Give us each day our daily bread/ 4and forgive us our sins/ for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,/ and do not subject us to the final test.”
5And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ 8I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
9“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.10For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.11What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 12Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
We Dare to Call God “Father”: At a concelebration in the cathedral of Kuta Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, after the consecration and just before the start of the Lord’s Prayer, I noticed a group at the rear end of the church silently making their way to the exit. Later, when I asked a friend why they did not stay for the entire Mass, I was told: “Father, they are catechumens preparing for baptism. As such they cannot yet pray the Our Father.”
That remark made a deep impression on me. At times we mumble the words of the prayer, rushing to finish it. But here is a group of people who look forward to the day when they can joyfully call God “Father!” We are reminded that, indeed, to do so is a privilege.
Luke hands on to us the “other” version of the Lord’s Prayer: shorter and less familiar than Matthew’s. But the Lucan version contains insights just as deep.
Luke says that Jesus teaches this prayer after he finished his own prayer, after the disciples who saw him praying asked him to teach them to pray. The Lord’s Prayer aligns the prayer of the disciples with the prayer of Jesus. On the other hand, it is a prayer intended for Jesus’ own disciples. Luke is implicitly saying that the prayer used in the Jewish community, even the prayer John the Baptist taught his disciples, is inappropriate for Jesus’ disciples who are to have a prayer that distinguishes them as Jesus’ very own. This does not mean that the disciples are not to pray like the rest of the people. What is emphasized here is the privilege they have because they believe and follow Jesus.
The heart of the prayer is the very first word: “Father!” This corresponds to the Aramaic word abba. In Luke, whenever Jesus speaks to God in direct speech, he addresses him as “Father!” which reveals his familial intimacy with God. In teaching them the prayer, Jesus allows the disciples to participate in his prayer, to dare use it after and with him.
The Lord’s Prayer is also important for the paraenesis or exhortation that accompanies it. Jesus exhorts the disciples to pray because God is so good. If an earthly father, wicked though he may be, knows how to give good things to his children, how much more will the Father in heaven give to those who ask him. The greatest of his gifts is the Holy Spirit (Lk 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the distinguishing mark of Jesus: he alone baptizes with (gives) the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to the believers so that they may be empowered to call God Abba! (Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15). St. Paul explains: “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:16).
Jesus declares that people will know that we are his disciples if we have love for one another (Jn 13:35). In the same way, the Lord’s Prayer marks us as Jesus’ very own. It is the prayer that we are empowered and privileged to make. Realizing this, we are challenged to know what we pray, believe what we pray, and live what we pray! And living the Lord’s Prayer begins with the happy conviction that God is our loving Abba, more wonderful than the best father here on earth.