REFLECTIONS TODAY The Lucan version of the Lord’s Prayer stresses the fatherhood of God to whom the faithful turns for daily sustenance, forgiveness, and deliverance from the final test (Lk 11:4). Jesus teaches his disciples to address God as Abba/Father, much like a child who depends on him for sustenance. Moreover, the children show respectful affiliation to the father by keeping the honor to the family name in the way they conduct their affairs. They do the “father’s will.” When the child falters and commits mistakes, he asks his father’s forgiveness. And in the face of trial, with its worries and anxieties, and amidst the alluring temptations of the evil one, the children are assured of the presence of the heavenly Father who will deliver them from harm. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we turn to the past by asking forgiveness for our sins, to the present by asking for our daily sustenance, and to the future by asking the Father’s help in the trials and dangers that may come our way.

GOSPEL • LUKE 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins

for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

 SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2021,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.