The Our Father is Jesus’ Prayer, it is the Prayer he entrusted us to pray. Before entrusting us the prayer we need to pray he said: do not repeat many prayers. He invited us to focus on this prayer. Hundreds of saints, doctors, baptised commented the Our Father. We all pray it. The majority of its key words are subject to interpretation: “Heaven”, “Name”, “hallowed” (be sanctified), “kingdom”, “will”, “bread”, substantial bread, “temptation”, “deliver us”, “evil/the Evil one”,… We might think that we have some clarity on one of the key words, and when we want to explore the other words, try to see what they mean, we struggle.
The Our Father is presented to us in two versions: one in St. Matthew (Mt. 6:1-6) and a slightly shorter one in St. Luke (Luke 11:1-4). What is particularly helpful is how the Lord comments on it, offering us guidance on how to understand and live it. In one instance, immediately after teaching the Our Father, the Lord emphasises one crucial point: the necessity of forgiveness (See Mt. 6:7ss). He explicitly states, “If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven.” Here, He seems to underline something vital for our relationship with Him and for the way we pray. To truly “talk” to God in prayer, we must be willing to forgive; otherwise, our prayer remains ineffective. Simply reciting the Our Father is not enough—we must genuinely forgive those who have wronged us. This emphasis on forgiveness appears to summarise the essence of the prayer, focusing on one central petition: the third request from the end.
In St. Luke’s version, however, the Lord’s commentary takes a slightly different direction. He uses the example of someone asking for bread and points out that we naturally share food with those in need.
“5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This teaching conveys that God, in response to the Our Father, provides for us. Yet, surprisingly, the Lord again summarises the prayer, this time by saying: The Father gives the Holy Spirit to His children (see verse 13). Here, the seven petitions of the Our Father are equated with a single overarching request: the Holy Spirit. St. Augustine understood this connection, interpreting the seven petitions as a prayer for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, and Fear of the Lord (as explained in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount).
Are these two interpretations contradictory? One summarises the Our Father as a call to forgiveness, while the other sees it as a plea for the Holy Spirit. Perhaps not. If we consider that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of forgiveness, the Spirit of Mercy—God’s own Mercy—, God’s Being, we can perceive the deep unity of the prayer. Forgiveness and the Holy Spirit are in fact one thing central to living the prayer of the Our Father, revealing its profound coherence and richness.
Having understood the deep unity of the two explanations given by the Lord, we can appreciate the significance He places on the third petition (the third from the bottom): “forgive us… as we forgive…” As many commentators have noted, this is the only request in the Our Father where we not only ask the Father to give us something, but also commit ourselves. In fact, this commitment is the key to receiving the Holy Spirit. Who can forgive? To forgive someone who has offended me is a divine act. If I am able to do so, it is proof that God’s grace—the Holy Spirit—is at work in me, healing my heart and empowering me to offer the forgiveness He give me and wants me to extend to my brother. Forgiveness, then, seems to be at the heart of the Our Father. Is this true?
Note: Forgiveness is an act of mercy, not of pure justice. If someone offends me, justice would demand something in return. Mercy, on the other hand, paradoxically gives something instead of asking for something back. We do not forgive out of our own strength; rather, we receive forgiveness from the Lord. The very forgiveness that He calls us to extend to others, He Himself gives to us. We must never forget to ask for it.
The Lord Himself summarises God’s will and the commandments in this way: “On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13) Also: “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’ (Hosea 6:6), you would not have condemned the innocent.” (Matthew 12:7)
Yes, forgiveness is an act of mercy. When someone offends me, it reveals that this person is wounded and acting out of their wound. This person needs my forgiveness, which is itself a divine act. By forgiving, I am communicating God to this person. In fact, to forgive is to “for-give”—to give God Himself to the one who has wronged me.
When the teacher of the law asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” after hearing the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Lord responded: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”” (Luke 10:36-37) The expert of Moses’ Law was able to understand its core: to have mercy is God’s core commandment.
Note: It’s important to remember that Samaritans were despised by the Jews and considered heretics. Yet Jesus highlights two important points: 1) the primary necessity of showing mercy, and 2) mercy belongs to God alone, not to our human categories (Jews, Samaritans, etc.). Paradoxically, Jesus is urging the Jewish expert in the Law to act like a Samaritan—a Samaritan who understood the very core of God’s law.
Revelation of the Our Father
Let us now explore how forgiveness (i.e. showing mercy) sheds light on the other words used in the Our Father, revealing them in a clearer and deeper way.
When we say, “May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we may not immediately grasp what His will is. But now that we understand forgiveness to be at the heart of Jesus’ message, and that mercy is the very nature of God, we come to realise that God’s will is for us to forgive. We are asking Him to help us forgive, just as He forgives all the time in heaven. In fact, He asks us to forgive our brother seventy-seven times a day! If He calls us to forgive in this way, we begin to understand who He is in heaven. Heaven is the realm of God, where His reign is complete and where forgiveness is as essential as the air we breathe.
“May Your will,” meaning forgiving my offenders, “be done on earth, as it is already in heaven.” In heaven, God’s nature is to forgive. He desires this same forgiveness to flow on earth—to flood the earth. We, as His instruments, are called to mediate this transformation on earth.
How does this happen? “Give us this day our daily bread,” the bread of forgiveness that we need to give to others. I am called to feed my brothers and sisters; I need to fill the earth with today’s action of forgiveness. Today, I have a certain measure of forgiveness that I must receive from God and give to my neighbour. Thus, I ask the Lord to provide that specific amount: “Give us this day our daily bread.” The daily bread of forgiveness, Lord, give it to me, so I can pass it on to my brothers and sisters. You want me to be the “minister” of Your forgiveness.
What, then, would be the temptation? It would be to withhold forgiveness—to delay or refuse it. This is why we ask the Lord to give us the strength to resist the temptation of forgetting, to turn a blind eye to the real need for forgiveness around us, and to fail to offer it: “Lead us not into temptation.”
“Deliver us from evil” means, O Lord, root us in You. Let us dwell in Your mercy, rely on it, cherish it, and pray that our hearts remain awake, ready to offer mercy to our brothers and sisters in need. Yes, our brothers and sisters are waiting for us to give them the liberating forgiveness they long for. They depend on us. We must never neglect them.
Evil does not want us to forgive. It revels in lies, jealousy, murder, and theft. Evil seeks to make us like itself—locked in chains of slavery, bound by unforgiveness.
Finally, let us reflect on the first two petitions of the Our Father. The phrase “Hallowed be Thy name”—or “may Your name be sanctified”—speaks to the essence of God’s very nature. When we invoke God’s name, we acknowledge His intrinsic identity. And His name is mercy.
In His self-revelation to Moses, God declares, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). In this pivotal moment, God underscores His merciful character. Similarly, the psalmist proclaims, “But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15), reinforcing this vision of God as merciful and loving.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus directs His followers, saying, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). This instruction firmly ties mercy to the divine essence, inviting us to mirror God’s mercy in our lives. Saint Paul, too, reflects this truth in Ephesians 2:4-5: “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Paul highlights that God’s mercy is the defining quality of His actions toward humanity.
Pope Francis, in Misericordiae Vultus (1), affirms that “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy.” He continues, stating, “The mercy of God is His name, and that name is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.” In a subsequent passage, the Pope writes, “Mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life. All of us are called to show mercy… It is the very essence of God, the expression of His love for us” (Ibid. 21). These teachings reinforce the centrality of mercy in God’s nature and in the life of the Church.
Mercy, then, is not just a concept—it is a divine act, one which flows from the Holy Spirit, the personification of God’s Mercy. Although the divine surpasses our human capacity, God, who created us in His image and likeness, invites us to participate in His divine nature. Through His grace, we are enabled to do what He does: to exercise mercy.
Thus, when we pray “Hallowed be Thy name,” we are asking God to help us practice mercy as He does. In doing so, we become sanctified and holy, living out the divine nature within us.
The second petition—“Thy kingdom come”—builds upon this. We pray that mercy may spread across the earth, that God’s reign as Mercy may take hold in the hearts of all people. We long for mercy to be the bond that unites us as humans, flowing abundantly from one heart to another. We ask the Lord to fill our hearts with His mercy, to let it take root in us and overflow through us, so that His mercy may transform the world.
Conclusion
When we approach the Our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer, entrusted to each of us, and view it through the unifying lens of Jesus’ call to forgive (“as we forgive…”), we gain a deeper understanding of the key elements within it. The references to God as the Father of All, heaven, His Name being sanctified (hallowed) in us, His kingdom, will, daily bread, temptation, and evil are all interconnected under one central theme: Mercy and forgiveness. These concepts are not isolated but are all expressions of God’s deepest nature, which is Mercy. “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy,” (Ibid. 1) and it is through mercy that God reveals Himself to humanity. This divine attribute forms the foundation of Christian life: mercy is the “very foundation of the Church’s life” (Ibid. 21).
Thus, when we pray the Our Father, we are not merely reciting words; we are being invited into the divine act of mercy, both receiving and extending it, as God has shown us through Jesus Christ. The entire prayer becomes a call to live out this essential aspect of God’s character in our daily lives.
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