Catechism L5-02 Our Father Prayer

Prayer Before Studying

Incomprehensible Creator, the true Fountain of light and only Author of all knowledge: vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to enlighten our understandings, and to remove from us all darkness of sin and ignorance. Thou, who makest eloquent the tongues of those that want utterance, direct our tongues, and pour on our lips the grace of Thy blessing. Give us a diligent and obedient spirit, quickness of apprehension, capacity of retaining, and the powerful assistance of Thy holy grace; that what we hear or learn we may apply to Thy honor and the eternal salvation of our own souls.

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Holy Spirit, giver of all good gifts, enter into my mind and heart. Give me the gift of knowledge, wisdom, understanding and the grace to use it wisely. Help me in all my endeavors. Give me perseverance and fortitude. Help my memory, that I may remember what I learn and recall it when necessary. Guide me in my studies. You who are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, let me not be deceived by false teaching. Our Lady of Good Studies, pray for me. Amen.


Consecration to the Trinity
O everlasting and Triune God,
I consecrate myself wholly to you today.
Let all my days offer you ceaseless praise,
My hands move to the rhythm of your impulses,
My feet be swift in your service,
My voice sing constantly of you,
My lips proclaim your message,
My eyes perceive you everywhere,
And my ears be attuned to your inspirations.
May my intellect be filled with your wisdom,
My will be moved by your beauty,
My heart be enraptured with your love,
And my soul be flooded with your grace.
Grant that every action of mine be done
For your greater glory
And the advancement of my salvation.
Amen.
 

Topic / Agenda

• To understand the “Our Father” prayer
• To introduce the Mystery of the Holy Trinity
• To teach the unity of the Three distinct Persons of the Trinity
• To review the Sign of the Cross and to learn the Glory Be.

Word of God

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Romans 5:5

  and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

1 Mga taga-Corinto 3:16-17
Hindi baga ninyo nalalaman na kayo'y templo ng Dios, at ang Espiritu ng Dios ay nananahan sa inyo? Kung gibain ng sinoman ang templo ng Dios, siya'y igigiba ng Dios; sapagka't ang templo ng Dios ay banal, na ang templong ito ay kayo.

Mga taga-Roma 5:5
At ang pagasa ay hindi humihiya; sapagka't ang pagibig ng Dios ay nabubuhos sa ating mga puso sa pamamagitan ng Espiritu Santo na ibinigay sa atin.

Points to Ponder

• Have you ever notice that sometimes God listens or immediately hears the prayer of other people rather to your prayers?
• You have been praying for quite some time and even sought help from a lot of saints and angels but still God does not grant your request?

Matthew 6:9-13

 7“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
8“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
 9“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
11‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]
14“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15“But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

 Luke 11:2-4 then 5-13

2And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.   3‘Give us each day our daily bread. 4‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And lead us not into temptation.’”

5Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
 9“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10“For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12“Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”


 Our Father prayer & the seven petitions

Prayer	Meaning
Our Father who are art in heaven	Father is the source/origin of all things. •        When we pray to the Father, we adore & glorify Him together with the Son & the Holy Spirit. – Holy Trinity •        In communion with each baptized Christian. Leave Individualism/Division. •        Praying for all those who do not know God so that Christ may “gather into one the children of God” •        God is in heaven, His dwelling place, the Father’s house is our homeland. •        Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant, but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven. •        In Christ, heaven and earth are reconciled. •        When the Church prays this, she is professing that we are the People of God, already seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
(1) Hallowed be thy name	Praise and glorify His name •        To recognize God as holy & to treat in a holy way. •        As God’s name is holy, we seek & ask that we who were sanctified in Baptism may persevere in what we have begun to be. •        That we who fail daily may cleanse away our sins by being sanctified continually. •        We pray that this sanctification may remain in us. •        We ask that this name of God should be hallowed in us through our actions.
(2) Thy kingdom come,	Coming of Kingdom of God on earth •        The Kingdom of God means Christ himself, whom we daily desire to come, & whose coming we wish to be manifested  quickly to us. •        “Marana tha” – the cry of the Spirit and the Bride “Come, Lord Jesus” •        The Kingdom of God is righteousness & peace & joy in the Holy Spirit.   •        A battle between “the flesh” and “the Spirit” •        We desire not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies but be purified in action, thought and word. To serve justice and peace.
(3) Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven	Put His will first above all else •        Our Father “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”. •        “He has made known to us the mystery of His will”, according to His good pleasure that he set forth in Christ. •        ↑ We ask insistently for this loving plan to be fully realized on earth as it is in heaven. •        In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled – gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of the Father. •        In committing ourselves to Christ, we become one spirit with Him, and thereby accomplish His will. •        By prayer we can discern “what is the will of God” and obtain the endurance to do it.
(4) Give us this day, our daily bread	Pray for the things on what we need instead of what we want •        The trust of children who look to their Father for everything is beautiful. He gives to all the living “their food in due season” (the good & bad) – Jesus taught us this because it glorifies our Father by acknowledging how good he is. •        It expresses covenant and we pray to Him for them all in solidarity with their needs & suffering. •        God wants to relieve us from nagging worry & preoccupation and not in “idleness”. •        It is a petition to those people who lacks bread and provide justice in personal, social, economic & international relations. Virtue of Sharing. •        Pray & Work – “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.“ •        This petition refers above all to his Word and to the Body of his Son, this “today” is not only that of our mortal time, but also the “today” of God – the Bread of Life.
(5) And forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sins against us.	Always ask for forgiveness to the Lord •        In this petition, we return to Him like the prodigal son and like the tax collector, recognize that we are sinners before him. •        Our petition will not be heard unless we have first met a strict requirement. •        In refusing to forgive our brothers & sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father’s merciful love, but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace. •        In Jesus’ teaching, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” – “love one another as even I love you”. •        The unity of forgiveness becomes possible only through the Spirit that we live in. •        It is there, inf fact, “in the depths of the heart,” that everything is bound & loose. It is not in our power not to feel, or to forget, an offense, but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession.
(6) Lead us not into temptation	Ask for the grace – the strength and courage in order to fight sins and evil; •        We ask Him not allow us to take the way that leads to sin. We are engaged in the battle “between flesh and spirit”; this petition implores the Spirit of discernment and strength. •        The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials. Discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. •        “Lead us not into temptation” implies a decision of heart. God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it. •        Such a battle & such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter. •        Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with His own.  The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch.
(7) But deliver us from evil.	Save us from wickedness of evil. •        Jesus’ prayer: “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one” •         This refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The one who “throws himself across” God’s plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ. •        One who entrusts himself to God does not dread the devil. “If God is for us, who is against us?” •        Victory over the “prince of the world” was won once for all at the Hour when Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us life. •        When we ask to be delivered from the Evil One, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, present, past and future, of which he is the author or instigator. •        The Church implores the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance in expectation of Christ’s return.

 

What other lessons have Jesus taught us in the Our Father prayer?

•         Humility
•         Compassion and Forgiveness
•         Trust and dependency to God
•         Desire for goodness
•         Persistency
•         Complete

So next time we pray how should we do it and what should be the content and purpose?

For the sake and salvation of your soul and the others, you should pray:

•        Divine Mercy Chaplet

•        Holy Rosary

•        Chaplet of St. Michael

•        Personal Prayer

You have 24 hours a day – 5 to 8 hours of sleep, 6 to 8 hours of school/work, 3 hrs for food, 1 to 3 hrs of either study or leisure; you still have 2 hours left. 

3 Sins of your Life that stifle your prayer power:

•Pride

•Gluttony

•Greed

Traditional Postures of Prayer

3 

 

Antidotes for these deadly sins:

•Humility

•Fasting

•Almsgiving

Prayer Blockages must also be removed for your prayers to be efficacious!

Remember the devil hates us being in communion with God. He will stop at nothing to disrupt our prayers and communion with the most high… The disruptions, inability to concentrate, impure thoughts even blaspheme can and will pop into your mind. KNOW THIS that it is the enemy who are doing this to you in the hopes that you stop praying.