580. Why is it called the “Lord’s Prayer”?
(Comp 580) The Our Father is called the
“Oratio Dominica”, that is, the Lord’s Prayer because it was taught to us by
the Lord Jesus himself.
“In brief”
(CCC 2775) It is called "the Lord's Prayer"
because it comes to us from the Lord Jesus, the master and model of our prayer.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2765) The traditional expression "the Lord's
Prayer" - oratio Dominica -
means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord
Jesus. The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is "of
the Lord." On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives
us the words the Father gave him (Cf. Jn 17:7): he is the master of our prayer.
On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his
human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our
prayer.
Reflection
(CCC 2766) But Jesus does not give us a formula to repeat
mechanically (Cf. Mt 6:7; 1 Kings 18:26-29). As in every vocal prayer, it is
through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God to
pray to their Father. Jesus not only gives us the words of our filial prayer;
at the same time he gives us the Spirit by whom these words become in us
"spirit and life" (Jn 6:63). Even more, the proof and possibility of
our filial prayer is that the Father "sent the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'"
(Gal 4:6). Since our prayer sets forth our desires before God, it is again the
Father, "he who searches the hearts of men," who "knows what is
the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according
to the will of God" (Rom 8:27). The prayer to Our Father is inserted into
the mysterious mission of the Son and of the Spirit.
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