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When the Church prays the Lord’s
Prayer, it is always the people made up of the
‘new-born’ who pray and obtain mercy.2’
770 In the Eucharistic liturgy the Lord’s
Prayer appears as the 1350 rayer of the whole Church and
there reveals its full meaning and
fficacy. Placed between the anaphora (the Eucharistic
prayer) and the communion, the Lord’s Prayer sums
up on the one hand all the etitions and intercessions
expressed in the movement of the epi lesis and, on the
other, knocks at the door of the Banquet of the ingdom which
sacramental communion anticipates.
771 In the Eucharist, the Lord’s Prayer also reveals
the eschatogical character of its petitions. It is the
proper prayer of ‘the and-time’, the time of
salvation that began with the outpouring of
Holy Spirit and will be fulfilled with the Lord’s
return. The petitions addressed to our Father, as distinct
from the prayers of the Old Covenant,
rely on the mystery of salvation already ccomplished, once
for all, in Christ crucified and risen.
772 From this unshakeable faith springs forth the hope
that sus- 1820 ins each of the
seven petitions, which express the groanings of
e present age, this time of patience and expectation
during hich ‘it does not yet
appear what we shall be.’22 The Eucharist
d the Lord’s Prayer look eagerly for the Lord’s
return, ‘until he mes’ 23 2773 In response to his disciples’ request ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ (Lk ii:i), Jesus entrusts them with the fundamental e, the Our Father. 2774 ‘The Lord’s Prayer is truly the
summary of the whole gospel’,24 the ‘most
perfect of prayers’ ,25 It is at the centre of the
Scriptures. 2775 It is called ‘the Lord’s
Prayer’ because it comes to us from the Lord Jesus,
the master and model of our prayer. 2776 The Lord’s Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of the major
hours of the Divine Office and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
Integrated into the Eucharist it reveals the
eschatological character of its petitions, hoping for the
Lord, ‘until he comes’ (i Cor 11:26). |
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