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114. Thus, from our confession of faith, briefly
summarized in the Creed (which is milk for babes when
pondered at the carnal level but food for strong men
when it is considered and studied spiritually), there
is born the good hope of the faithful, accompanied by
a holy love.(241) But of these affirmations, all of
which ought faithfully to be believed, only those
which have to do with hope are contained in the
Lord's Prayer.
For "cursed is everyone," as the divine eloquence
testified, "who rests his hope in man."(242) Thus, he
who rests his hope in himself is bound by the bond of
this curse. Therefore, we should seek from none other
than the Lord God whatever it is that we hope to do
well, or hope to obtain as reward for our good works.
115. Accordingly, in the Evangelist Matthew, the
Lord's Prayer may be seen to contain seven petitions:
three of them ask for eternal goods, the other four
for temporal goods, which are, however, necessary for
obtaining the eternal goods.
For when we say: "Hallowed be thy name. Thy
Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in
heaven"(243) --this last being wrongly interpreted by
some as meaning "in body and spirit"--these blessings
will be retained forever. They begin in this life, of
course; they are increased in us as we make progress,
but in their perfection--which is to be hoped for in
the other life--they will be possessed forever! But
when we say: "Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil,"(244) who does not see that all these pertain
to our needs in the present life?
In that life eternal--where we all hope to be--the
hallowing of God's name, his Kingdom, and his will,
in our spirit and body will abide perfectly and
immortally. But in this life we ask for "daily bread"
because it is necessary, in the measure required by
soul and body, whether we take the term in a
spiritual or bodily sense, or both. And here too it
is that we petition for forgiveness, where the sins
are committed; here too are the temptations that
allure and drive us to sinning; here, finally, the
evil from which we wish to be freed. But in that
other world none of these things will be found.
116. However, the Evangelist Luke, in his version
of the Lord's Prayer, has brought together, not
seven, but five petitions. Yet, obviously, there is
no discrepancy here, but rather, in his brief way,
the Evangelist has shown us how the seven petitions
should be understood. Actually, God's name is even
now hallowed in the spirit, but the Kingdom of God is
yet to come in the resurrection of the body.
Therefore, Luke was seeking to show that the third
petition ["Thy will be done"] is a repetition of the
first two, and makes this better understood by
omitting it. He then adds three other petitions,
concerning daily bread, forgiveness of sins, and
avoidance of temptation.(245) However, what Matthew
puts in the last place, "But deliver us from evil,"
Luke leaves out, in order that we might understand
that it was included in what was previously said
about temptation. This is, indeed, why Matthew said,
"But deliver us," instead of, "And deliver us," as if
to indicate that there is only one petition--"Will
not this, but that"--so that anyone would realize
that he is being delivered from evil in that he is
not being led into temptation. |