Our Father…
(c) Mary TV
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Dear Family of Mary!
As tensions seem to be rising in our country, the USA, I have been having a difficult time maintaining my peace and hope. The Coronavirus may have changed the way we live, at least for a time, but there are other things that are changing which could have very bad consequences for us. Violence is escalating, rhetoric is growing more divisive, and tensions are high. So, a couple of days ago, I was having a very hard time calming down and opening my heart to prayer.
I remember being so sad, so worried, that I couldn’t even begin the Rosary. But then all of a sudden, I felt a deep calm come over me. I then asked myself, what was it I really wanted? If I could change the world right now, what would I choose it to be. And immediately I began to pray the Our Father, very quietly and slowly, phrase by phrase.
Our Father….
Who art in Heaven….
Hallowed be Thy name….
I realized as I prayed that the words of the Our Father described perfectly exactly what I would want if I could change the world.
I realized that if the Our Father became my reality, I would be the most blessed of all people. The world would be a wonderful place to live. And all our troubles would be solved!
Think about it!!
Our Father… (To live with God as my Father, and God as my neighbor’s father, and God as Father of every person on earth, would make us one family. We would all be bonded as siblings. There would be a family bond throughout the world!! And we would have the best, most perfect Father ever!)
Who art in Heaven… (Our Father is in Heaven. He lives in eternal happiness and joy. And Heaven is going to be my home one day, if I choose God as my all in all. There is a Heaven. It is real. More real than earth. More substantial and beautiful than all the worlds combined. Wow)
Hallowed be Thy Name… (Oh how I wish we all would hallow God’s Name. Synonyms for Hallowed are:
Thy Kingdom come… (Oh if only God’s Kingdom would come! All our trouble would be over. All our hopes would be fulfilled. There would be peace for all. We need God’s Kingdom to come…)
Thy will be done… (God’s will is life-giving and wholesome. God’s will is that we live with Him forever, in Heaven. And He wills that our lives on earth will make us resemble His Son in love and sacrifice, so that others will join Him in Heaven. God’s will is awesome!!)
On earth as it is in Heaven… (If the Kingdom would come on earth it would be Heaven on earth!)
Give us this day our daily bread… (If we lived trusting in God’s providence, we would have a deep peace. This practice of trusting our lives into God’s hands teaches us how to prepare for Heaven. It also helps us not to hoard or become self-absorbed. One day at a time, enough for me!)
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us… (Forgiveness is a most healing action for us. By forgiving others we free ourselves from all the bad things that have happened to us and move into the freedom of Christ. Jesus taught us how to forgive on the Cross. To forgive is to be free! And as we forgive others, God can then forgive us! For certainly we have sinned as well. It is beautiful!!)
And lead us not into temptation… (The devil is the tempter. He spends every moment of every day whispering deceptive thoughts into our ears, hoping to snare us. He wants us to become like Him. So, we need God to protect us from the tempter by leading our thoughts away from temptation to hope and love. A life without temptation would be a peaceful life.)
But deliver us from evil… (Yes, there is evil in our world. We cannot solve it. We can only be lifted out of it by grace. God can save us from evil, if we ask Him to do it. Once we have forgiven and repented from our sin, we can give ourselves completely to the Lord, who can deliver us from all evil.)
Well, I went through the Our Father very slowly the next day. And each time I prayed a phrase of it, it sent me into a little ecstasy. I felt like I was floating on air. Everything I could wish for is contained in the Our Father. If it came to be, I would be the happiest person ever!!
I also realized that praying the Our Father, phrase by phrase, was like a deliverance prayer. I felt freer and freer of the anxiety, fear and sadness that was trying to overwhelm me. Really it was a spiritual warfare prayer that worked.
The Our Father answers all our needs! It is amazing!
Our Lady said to us:
“With Hearts open and full of love, cry out the name of the Heavenly Father that He may illuminate you with the Holy Spirit!”
This is exactly what this prayer of the Our Father was doing for me. It was filling me with the Holy Spirit.
Whenever I start feeling anxiety now, I dive into the prayer of the Our Father, slowly, deliberately saying each phrase, realizing that I am praying for the answer to all our troubles. And my heart rests in God.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Mary TV 2020
