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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said to the crowd,

“This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father who art in Heaven,

hallowed be Thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in Heaven…’”

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– Matthew 6:9-10

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus, the Son of God,

teaches us to invoke God as Our Father…in Heaven

because we are indeed His children,

and our feelings towards Him should reflect this wonderful relationship..

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Hallowed by Thy name.

Why pray that His name be hallowed and sanctified?

Because God, who is Holiness Itself,

is sanctified when His holiness is acknowledged and honoured by His creatures

– by us.

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Thy Kingdom come.

The coming of the Kingdom of God

is the realisation of God’s plan of salvation in the world.

The Kingdom establishes itself in the first place in the core of man’s being,

raising us up to share in God’s own inner life

– in this life, through grace,

and in eternal life, where man’s elevation to the supernatural level is fully completed.

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Thy will be done…

This expresses two desires:

that we identify humbly and unconditionally with God’s will,

abandoning ourselves in the arms of the Father;

and that the will of God be fulfilled as we cooperate with it in full freedom.

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…on earth as it is in Heaven.

means that,

just as the angels and saints in Heaven are fully at one with God’s will,

so we too desire and pray to be at one with God’s will on earth.

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PRAYER…

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Our Father,

who art in Heaven,

hallowed be Thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from all evil.

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Amen.

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