Today's Readings
Our - Because it is not just me and God. It is me and God and everyone God loves.
Father - Because, although Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, we all have been adopted by God in our baptism.
Who art - Of course "art" means "is" and God is. Before we say anything else about God, we acknowledge his existence, which is the foundation of all existence.
In heaven - which is to say, the perfect place. Not that God is more present in heaven then anywhere else. He is equally present everywhere.
Hallowed be thy name - which means Holy is. Holy, which means "belongs to God." God is Holy because he is not our invention. We cannot change him or control him in any way. He does not belong to us.
Thy Kingdom come - which is to say the kingship of God, the reign of God. We ask that God take charge of this world. We know he will fully at the end of the world.
Thy will be done - Nothing is good unless it is the will of God. We might think something is good that is not the will of God, but we are wrong.
On earth as it is in heaven - because we want this imperfect place to become perfect like heaven is.
Give us - we ask God for one thing, as a reminder that from him we have received all things.
This day - our request is not for a future, potential event that we are uncertain of. We are asking for help in our actual situation.
Our daily bread - This especially signifies the Bread of Life, which is the Body of Jesus Christ.
And forgive us - We ask him to give and to forgive. To give and to take away. To give us what is good, and to take away the evil we have welcomed into our lives.
Our trespasses - Our debts. We owe God big time. We cannot fathom what we owe God on so many different levels. What we know for certain is we can never pay him back.
As we forgive those who trespass against us - We forget how much we owe God, but we remember how much others owe us. An unforgiven grudge is corrosive to the soul.
And lead us not into temptation - He led Jesus into temptation in the desert, but our faith is weak, and a real test would break us, so we beg God not to test us.
But deliver us from evil - Because we are prisoners. We are in chains of our own making which hold us to evil. We want to be free.
Amen - Because we mean every word.
Daily Homilies
