591. Why pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? (part 3 continuation)
(Comp 591 repetition) The will of the
Father is that “all men be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). For this Jesus came: to
perfectly fulfill the saving will of his Father. We pray God our Father to
unite our will to that of his Son after the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and the saints. We ask that this loving plan be fully realized on earth as it
is already in heaven. It is through prayer that we can discern “what is the
will of God” (Romans 12:2) and have the “steadfastness to do it” (Hebrews
10:36).
“In brief”
(CCC 2860) In the third petition,
we ask our Father to unite our will to that of his Son, so as to fulfill his
plan of salvation in the life of the world.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2826) By prayer we can discern "what is the will
of God" and obtain the endurance to do it (Rom 12:2; cf. Eph 5:17; cf. Heb
10:36). Jesus teaches us that one enters the kingdom of heaven not by speaking
words, but by doing "the will of my Father in heaven" (Mt 7:21).
Reflection
(CCC 2827) "If any one is a worshiper of God and does
his will, God listens to him" (Jn 9:31; cf. 1 Jn 5:14). Such is the power
of the Church's prayer in the name of her Lord, above all in the Eucharist. Her
prayer is also a communion of intercession with the all-holy Mother of God (Cf.
Lk 1:38, 49) and all the saints who have been pleasing to the Lord because they
willed his will alone: It would not be inconsistent with the truth to
understand the words, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,"
to mean: "in the Church as in our Lord Jesus Christ himself"; or
"in the Bride who has been betrothed, just as in the Bridegroom who has
accomplished the will of the Father" (St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. 2, 6, 24: PL 34, 1279). [END]
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