Jesus said, “When you pray to the Father, pray like this” (The Bible: Book of Mathew 6:9-13

and Luke
11:2-4)

"Our Father who art in heaven hollowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on eart as it
is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread and forgive as our trespasses as we forgive those who
tresspass againts us, and lead us not into temtation but deliver us on evil"

The Lord’s Prayer tells us to speak to God as one would speak to a father — a dad — a perfect dad that
completely understands — telling Him about our needs and suffering and asking Him for help to solve
them.

If we look at deep mean or purpose that the prayer the Lord’s Prayer is as a conversation with God. It is
also an opportunity to align my goals and purpose to God’s order. It is a way to look at the world
differently.

The Seven Petitions: Jesus gave us The Lord’s Prayer — also known as the Our Father. It is composed of
seven simple lines — seven petitions directed to God. Let’s take a look at the 7 petitions of the Lord’s
Prayer

The first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer focus on God.  This reveals the essence of love: love always
draws us out of ourselves toward the other.  These petitions help us to love and adore God and desire
His will for His sake.  We pray: “Hallowed be thy name…thy Kingdom come…thy will be done.” In the last
four petitions give us, forgive us, lead us not and deliver (give us, forgive us, lead us not and deliver
us)we express our needs and our desire to be close to god

Hallowed be Thy Name

  “Hallowed” means to be holy.  As we pray this part of the prayer, we are not praying that God’s
name will become holy, for His name already is holy.  Rather, we pray that this holiness of God will be
recognized by us and all people.  We pray that there will be a deep reverence of God’s name and that
we will always treat God with the proper honor, devotion, love and awe we are called to give.  

God Himself is holy, holy, holy.  He is thrice holy!  In other words, He is the Holiest!  Living with this
fundamental disposition of heart is key to a good Christian life and to a good life of prayer.  

Perhaps a good practice would be to regularly honor God’s name.  For example, what a wonderful habit
it would be to regularly say, “Sweet and precious Jesus, I love You.”  Or, “Glorious and merciful God, I
adore You.”  Adding adjectives like these before we mention God is a good habit to get into as a way of
fulfilling this first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Another good practice would be to always refer to the “Blood of Christ” we consume at Mass as the
“Precious Blood.”  Or the Host as the “Sacred Host.”  There are many who fall into the trap of just
referring to it as the “wine” or the “bread.”  This is most likely not malicious or even sinful, but it’s much
better to enter into the practice and habit of honoring and revering anything that is associated with God,
especially the Most Holy Eucharist

When we pray, "hallowed be Thy name," we are not asking if we can make God's name holy; only God
can make something holy. Rather, when we pray "hallowed be Thy name," we are asking to recognize
God's name as holy and therefore to treat it in a holy way. To be holy means to be set aside in order to
conform to God's purpose. By praying that God's name be made holy in us, we are asking to enter into
the eternal plan that God has for the redemption of all humanity. Each and every baptized Christianis
called to make God's name holy in his or her life, so that the world can see the face of Jesus in how we
live our lives.

God's "work then, is realized for us and in us only if his name is hallowed by us and in us" (CCC 2808).
God first makes us holy through our Baptism, where we are washed clean of our sin and claimed in the
name of Jesus Christ. This call to holiness continues throughout our lives. When we live like sons and
daughters of God, God's name is blessed through our lives. The opposite is true, too. When we live
sinfully, God's name is blasphemed (to blaspheme is to disrespect that which is holy). We ask that God's
name be made holy in us so that we can be holy, and participate in the saving work that Jesus came into
this world to accomplish.

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN

We call God our Father because He was revealed to us through His Son Jesus Christ who became man.
Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are adopted children of God. This free gift of adoption requires
on our own part the continual conversion and a new life. When we say the ”Our Father” we are speaking
to God in a very intimate way, not as a distant figure but as a close member of the family. When we pray
the words ”Our Father”, we are saying that God is not just ‘my Father’, but the Father of all. We can’t
exclude anyone from God’s care, for we are all His children.

When we say ”Our Father who art in heaven”, we are not banishing God to the outer corners of the sky,
for where there is peace, joy, happiness and love, there is a slice of heaven. So we acknowledge His
presence in our lives, our world and our hearts.

THE SEVEN PETITIONS

1ST PETITION: HALLOWED BE THY NAME

The term ”hallowed” literally means ”to make holy” or ”to demonstrate as holy”. In this petition, we are
asking that God’s name be made holy. This line of the prayer is an extension of the opening
acknowledgement that God is our Father in heaven: first we recognise that God loves and listens to us
(Our Father who art in heaven), and then we move on to recognise His holiness (hallowed be Thy
Name). So when we pray that God’s name be made holy, we are praying that God Himself be given the
reverence and honour due to Him.

2ND PETITION: THY KINGDOM COME

Through out the Old and New testaments there is a great longing for the time when God will rule the
world in full glory and power. The second petition is the first with a double meaning: first, we pray for
the coming of the kingdom of God here and now in our daily lives. Secondly, we pray for the glorious
return of our Lord Jesus at the end of time and the final coming of the reign of God.

3RD PETITION: THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

The word ”will” means the same as ”desire.” So by praying for God’s will to be done, we are are praying
for all that God desires to be done. If we pray but refuse to submit to His authority, then we are
deceiving ourselves and we are not really praying the way Jesus taught His followers to pray.

4TH PETITION: GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

This is actually the part I love the most. This petition has a twofold meaning: first, we pray for (the
physical) daily bread for our earthly nourishment that is necessary to physically sustain us throughout
the day. Secondly, as the scripture says ”man must not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God”, there is a great hunger and thirst for the word of God in the world
today. Therefore as Christians, we must make every effort to proclaim the good news to the people
around us. Specifically, the Christian sense of this part of the Lord’s Prayer is the Bread of Life. The Holy
Eucharist is our daily Bread. The power belonging to this divine Bread makes it a bind of union. Its effect
is then understood as unity, so that gathering into His Body, and made members of Him, we may
become what we receive. In addition, the reading and hymns we hear and sing at Mass are also part of
our daily bread. All this are very important for our spiritual growth.

5TH PETITION: FOR GIVE US OUR SINS AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US.

In this petition, we beg God to have mercy on us and forgive our sins. We acknowledge that the Father’s
mercy is able to penetrate our hearts to the extent that we will be able to forgive our enemies. But
there is a condition here: His mercy can only feel our hearts when we have forgiven our enemies.
Remember the verses that follow the Our Father in Matthew 6:14-15:”If you forgive those who wrong
you, your Father will also forgive you, but if you do dont forgive others, then your Father will not forgive
you.”

6TH PETITION: LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.

In this petition, we ask God not to allow us to fall into temptation, we also ask for the grace and strength
to overcome sins of the flesh.

7TH PETITION: BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

In this final petition, we pray in communion with the Church for the deliverance of the whole human
family

In two of the gospels, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray what we now refer to as the Lord’s Prayer, or
the Our Father. St. Luke (11:2-4) gives us a slightly abbreviated version, while St. Matthew (6:9-13) gives
us the fuller text, which we pray today. In the section on Christian Prayer, the Catechism of the Catholic
Church devotes many pages to dissecting and breaking down the Lord’s Prayer and its importance to our
faith and prayer life. Today, we will begin a seven-part series to take a closer look at each of the
petitions Jesus gave us, as identified in St. Matthew’s version.

The first three petitions in the Lord’s Prayer illuminate the glory of God. “The first series of petitions
carries us toward him, for his own sake: thy name, thy kingdom, thy will! It is characteristic of love to
think first of the one whom we love” (CCC #2804). In these first petitions, we do not mention ourselves
or our needs and we simply set our loving gaze on He who is most worthy of all of our attention and
praise. The second series of four petitions appeals to the mercy of God as we acknowledge our fallen
nature and dependence on Him for help. “They go up from us and concern us from this very moment, in
our present world: ‘give us…forgive us…lead us not…deliver us…’” (CCC #2805). So, the prayer rightfully
begins with the praise of our great God and then humbly turns to our own human needs, which serves
as a model of how all of our personal prayer ought to begin and end.

The first petition in the Lord’s Prayer is “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” The Catechism explains that when we
say this line, we are not making God’s name holy because we say so (because only God makes holy
things holy). Rather, it is a recognition on our part that God’s name is holy (CCC #2807). This line of the
prayer is one of adoration, praise, and thanksgiving as we acknowledge God’s holy name in juxtaposition
to our own lowly selves. “In making man in his image and likeness, God ‘crowned him with glory and
honor,’ but by sinning, man fell ‘short of the glory of God’” (CCC #2809). AŌer casting Adam and Eve out
of the Garden of Eden, God began re-revealing His holiness to mankind throughout all of salvation
history, “in order to restore man to the image of his Creator” (CCC #2809). So, practically speaking for us
today, by calling first and foremost on God’s holy name, we are not only acknowledging His greatness,
but we are reorienting our heart to be what we are called to be, which is a reflection of Him.

The Catechism goes on to explain God’s revelation of His holiness in the Old Testament. He created a
covenant with Abraham without revealing His name. Then, He later expands with Moses, revealing even
more of Himself – “I am who am” (Ex 3:14; CCC #2810). Note how God reveals Himself to us: slowly and
over time. From the beginning, we were intended to have perfect knowledge of God, but due to sin, the
plan had to change. Our fallen nature cannot handle too much at one time. Therefore, God works within
the constructs of our imperfect hearts and minds to slowly unravel divine mysteries over the course of
human history. You might even have examples from your own life where God very slowly and
methodically revealed something to you over time. The pace of it, while perhaps frustrating in the
moment, always proves to be in God’s perfect timing for our own ultimate good.

Continuing with the unfolding of His salvific plan, God eventually reveals Himself under the name of
Jesus, the incarnate Word of God and our Savior (CCC#2812). In Jesus, we now have a name of God who
is more tangible and relatable to us. Every one of our human experiences can be shared and bound to
God in the person of Jesus and we can call upon His holy name in all things. It is also from Jesus’ own
words that we learn another name of God, and that is Father. So, Jesus brought us a great many giŌs in
revealing more of the holy names of God. With each name comes a deeper understanding of who God is
in relation to us. He is Savior and He is Father. Both of these names reveal the intense love and
compassion He has for His children. When we are baptized, it is done “in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, by virtue of our baptism, our lives should conform to His holy
name and all that implies. In the words of Jesus Himself, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is
perfect” (Matt 5:48). When we say God’s name is holy, we cannot simply leave it at that. In saying His
name is holy, we necessarily must acknowledge the call to action required of us as being created in His
image and likeness and baptized in His Holy name. In this lens, “Hallowed be thy name” is no mere form
of passive adoration, rather it is a call to elevate our wills in order to imitate His holiness in our own
thoughts, words, and deeds. The Catechism quotes Tertullian (c. 155-220 AD) saying, “For God’s name is
blessed when we live well, but is blasphemed when we live wickedly… When we say ‘hallowed be thy
name,’ we ask that it should be hallowed in us, who are in him; but also in others whom God’s grace still
awaits, that we may obey the precept that obliges us to pray for everyone, even our enemies”
(CCC#2814). Here, Tertullian is highlighting the unity of God’s people under His name and that when we
pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are not doing so for ourselves alone, but for the good of all of mankind with
the hope of conversion for many hearts to conform to His holy name.

This week, meditate on God’s holy name with a deeper understanding of how God has revealed Himself
over time through the development of His name. When you call upon His holy name, do so with love
and thanksgiving for who He is. Christian life and active prayer are inseparably bound. Prayerfully
consider a small change you can make to become a little more perfect like your heavenly Father and call
upon His name to help you take that one step closer to Him.

The meaning of “Hallowed be thy name”

As we consider the significance of the first petition, “Hallowed be thy name,” we need to understand
what these words literally mean. To begin, the word be indicates a wish or desire. In modern vernacular
we might instead say “may your name be hallowed.” The word name is often used in Scripture to
symbolize a person. For instance, in Proverbs 18:10 we read, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower:
the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” We understand in that verse that “the name of the Lord”
represents God himself, and when we run to Him we are safe. Likewise in the Lord’s Prayer, we are not
asking that only God’s name be hallowed, but God himself.

The word hallowed means “to be made holy, sanctified, or held sacred or in high esteem.” This word is
used frequently in Scripture; the Levites, for example, were hallowed to God, as was the Tabernacle in
the wilderness, and the Temple and its instruments. All of these were hallowed or sanctified—set apart
from profane or even common use, to be used only for sacred purposes. So this is a petition for God to
be set apart from any common usage and to be holy.

Of course, God is infinitely holy; He cannot be more holy than He already is. That means the intent of
this petition cannot be to somehow make God holier. Rather, the words are for our benefit, and this is a
hint to us that prayer has more to do with changing us than changing God. We are asking God to make
Himself holy in our hearts and in our minds. We want to recognize the reality of His holiness, and for
Him to be glorified and magnified in our lives. Thus, when we pray, “Hallowed be thy name,” we are
praying, “May You be made holy in our lives.” That is what “Hallowed be thy name” means.