The Estuary of Theology 10

Our Father Who Art in Heaven

The formative power of the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus gave to the disciples, comes from the fact that the prayer of Jesus who is perfectly divine and the prayer of Jesus who is perfectly human are combined into one prayer. This power makes the disciples who say this prayer realize that their free minds are invited to share in Jesus’ divinity. This realization gives them the courage to receive Jesus’ word, “[E]very one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40), recognizing the evangelical counsels in him, who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

The prayer, “Hallowed be thy name” (divinity), and the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” (humanity), are combined and indicate the divine poverty and the way. Hallowedness is omnipotence being reflected in the divine poverty that derives from the fact that He needs nothing. The divine poverty appears as Providence when the mercy of the heavenly Father moves to satisfy the true needs of living things (cf. Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 12:22-31). Providence is God’s manner and the way Jesus showed us. The prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” was already fulfilled by word that Jesus once had replied to the crowd: “[M]y Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32). Therefore, the word “the daily bread” indicates the Word and the Eucharist in particular. We see, in the disciples who receive the Word and the Eucharist, the mercy of the heavenly Father revealing itself as Providence which satisfies the human true needs. This is the way Jesus showed us. God helps the disciples who live steering their daily life towards the Mass to receive the Word and the Eucharist, and the disciples hallow the name of the Father in heaven. 

The prayer, “Thy kingdom come” (divinity), and the prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (humanity), are combined and indicate the divine chastity and the truth. The divine chastity means the state of God, who has nothing to do with sin. The kingdom comes to where sin is not. Jesus clearly showed that God is the one who forgives sins, saying on the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The word, “God is the one who forgives sins” is the truth. Jesus is the God who has accomplished the mystery of the Cross to forgive sins. Jesus is the truth. He, after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, admonished the disciples: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness is the word of the truth. It is not man but the Father in heaven that reveals the truth to people as Jesus told when Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus said here, “if you forgive men their trespasses,” and taught them that the experience of truly forgiving others their trespasses is the experience of being directly connected with the will of the Father in heaven. 

Christians need to do their effort to have a field where they can experience the word of Jesus, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). From this experience in the field, we will understand that the communal power of delivering people from sins is in the people who are gathered in the name of Jesus. The spirit of Jesus, which is present there by the Holy Spirit, admonishes Christians by revealing the divine chastity and the truth and gives them the opportunity of experiencing the profound unity between God and man and neighbour. They will experience here the fulfilment of the prayer, “Thy kingdom come.” This is what the Lord said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

The prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (divinity), and the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (humanity), are combined and indicate the divine obedience and the life. The divine obedience is expressed by the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus says about himself, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). As about the Holy Spirit, he told, “[H]e will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14). From these words, we see that the divine obedience expressed in Jesus’ word is that he does the will of the Father in heaven and accomplishes his work and that the Holy Spirit takes what is Jesus’ and declares it to Christians. Jesus’ word, “It is finished” (John 19:30), just before his death on the cross means that “my church” (Matthew 16:18) has appeared with the people whom the heavenly Father had drawn close to the cross. The Holy Spirit, after descending to the earth, took what was Jesus’, namely “my church,” encouraged the Apostles with the “two-fold spirituality of the Holy Spirit” (cf. The Estuary of Theology issue 7) and founded the Church (cf. The Acts of the Apostles 2:1-47).

Then, what Christians should practice in order to know the divine obedience is, first of all, to participate in one of the “two-fold spirituality of the Holy Spirit,” that is, attending the Mass and also participating in the direct formation of the Eucharist by staying patiently before it in the space the Holy Spirit brought about for the Eucharist (cf. The Estuary of Theology issue 7). This formation surpasses every training in learning the divine obedience. Its yoke is easy, and its burden is light. In this formation, Christians experience the darkness of no-information of God, which is the sign of having been put to Jesus’ yoke, and then the darkness of no-information of the self, which is the sign of having borne the burden, namely the presence of Jesus’ spirit which is present by the will of the Holy Spirit. 

A Christian who participates in this formation will someday master it and will find themselves remaining in the darkness of no-information of God and the darkness of no-information of the self, still being put to Jesus’s yoke, even after leaving the Eucharist, and the image of the spirit of Jesus who shared their activities will come to remain in their memory of real experience. When they accept the spirit of Jesus who wants to share in their activities, he begins to live in them and bears their activities. They, who are in this state, are true ones who live the divine obedience. This situation caused by the Holy Spirit with the human cooperation can be said to be the third mystery of the Incarnation and will bring about the life of God into their activities. Only Jesus, who is the life God, can truly fulfil the prayers, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” 

Jesus explained this as follows: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father” (John 14:10-12). Then, Christians will say together with Paul: “[I]t is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

To be continued. 

Feb. 2020 in Hiroshima

Maria K