Mt 6:7-15
[Jesus said to his disciples,] 7“In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9“This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven,/ hallowed be your name,/ 10your kingdom come,/ your will be done,/ on earth as in heaven./ 11Give us today our daily bread;/ 12and forgive us our debts,/ as we forgive our debtors;/ 13and do not subject us to the final test,/ but deliver us from the evil one./ 14If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
OUR FATHER: The “Lord’s Prayer” might have been taught by Jesus to his disciples in Aramaic, their native language, or in Hebrew, the language of the Scriptures and of official prayer. It has come down to us in Greek in the versions of Matthew (the Gospel today) and of Luke (11:2-4). It is difficult to pinpoint when and where Jesus gave the prayer.
Luke presents the prayer as model for those who do not know how to pray, especially for pagans converted to the Christian faith and must pray to the God of Israel who is also the Father of the Lord Jesus. Luke concentrates on the essentials in initiating all the new Christians to prayer. They must first of all be taught to accept God as father.
Matthew, on the other hand, addresses the Jews who have come to believe in Jesus. They are used to praying, but must be shown how to do it correctly: neither in the showy manner of the hypocrites nor in the superstitious way of the pagans. They should pray in the spirit of the “Our Father.”
The abba (“dear father”) by which Jesus addressed the Father is now the address of the empowered believers. But when the believers pray as a community, they address God as abhinu (“our dear father”) to show their oneness as a community, and to acknowledge the privilege of each one to call God “Father.” In this way, they acknowledge their responsibility over their brothers and sisters, especially through sharing their common sustenance (“our daily bread”) and through forgiveness that they should impart on one another. It is only in this way that they can truly call God abhinu.