Dear Brothers and Sisters,
How does a child get to know his dad, have you ever thought about that? As a newborn, he spends most of his time with his mother who feeds him, takes care of him, talks to him, etc. His dad has very little contact with him. The first word out of his mouth is usually, mom, not dad. There is no maternity test for moms because it is obvious who the mother is. There are paternity tests for the father and usually the child gets to know the father through the mother. She is the one who leads him to the father, and it takes some time for the child to trust the father.
In matters of faith, it is the Church who is our mother, and she leads us to the Father. Who is our father? Today in this gospel Jesus tells us who is your dad. The word today is beautiful because we don’t just learn a prayer today, a magic formula of the exact words of what to say so that God hears us. No, this is not today’s gospel. Jesus is saying something much deeper. By teaching us the Lord’s prayer he is making us children of the Father. He is teaching us who is our Father so that you may know him. You might have other fathers out there and Jesus is saying hold on, wait a minute, our Father is the one in heaven, is your Father, and since we share the same Father, we are brothers.
In this prayer, the Lord is saying to the disciples that we are his children and therefore heirs of what? We are heirs of eternal life. This prayer makes us heirs of eternal life, heirs of the happiness of heaven. This prayer opens heaven for us. When you pray, say, Father, who are in heaven. This prayer brings us into the holiness of God. God is holy. He is the only one here who is holy. There is no one else who is holy, God is the only holy one and Christ is God. We say God is holy three times, holy, holy, holy. Then why do we call the saints holy people? We say that they are holy because God has shown his holiness in this man or woman. You can only be holy if God shows his holiness in you. God decides how much to show, how much holiness to give.
And what is the holiness of God? That your name be holy, that your kingdom come and be present, that your will be done even on earth as in heaven. Let it be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Let the holiness of heaven be also here on earth. What is the holiness of God? The holiness of God is to love you. God is holy because he loves you and he loves you because he is holy. Do you understand? God is holy because he loves you and he loves you because he is holy. This is the holiness of God. This is why he says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” You are holy today if you love as he loved you.
Do you want to be holy today? Then say, I love you, I have forgiven you. If you have forgiven your wife, then you are holy. That’s it, when you forgive your spouse, you are holy. Put yourself in her place and forgive her. If you forgive your brother who stole the inheritance, you are holy. If you forgive your mother who abandoned you, you are holy. If you love your enemy, you are holy. Today you can be holy, holy, holy and there is room in the church to put your statue; there are many empty places. To be a saint is not to be sinless. This prayer brings us into the holiness of God because God is in the prayer. When you sin ask for forgiveness as at the end of the gospel, how much more will the Father give you the Holy Spirit to those who ask for it. To be holy I need the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus Christ, the spirit of God. If not, I cannot be holy. It says so in the opening prayer: God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy.
Holiness is not being faultless nor is it perfection and doing everything wonderfully. Holiness is to love. You can love and still be a sinner. Sin lessens as you learn to love. St. Paul also loved while he had a thorn in his flesh. He asked the Lord three times to take it away. We don’t know what it was, but the Lord said that he would not take it away and that his grace is enough for you. Grace is the holiness of God. If you look at the full picture the Our Father it is asking for the holiness from God. Our Father who are in heaven, be holy your name, help me to make holy your name here on earth. I am a Christian so help me to live according to that name so that your kingdom can come.
Only the saints can ask for this. The wicked do not want the kingdom to come. They don’t want the judgment of God, no, thank you! I have not converted yet. But if I am holy, let your kingdom come now. Give us each day our daily bread. What is this bread? It is Christ. I am the true bread that has come down from heaven. Without Christ we cannot be saints because without the Eucharist I cannot be holy. It is not the same to receive or to not receive communion. For those who cannot, I am very sorry. But there are those who do not want to receive and I do not agree with this. If you cannot receive, there is a remedy, which is confession and also conversion.
Forgive us our sins because we also forgive those who offended us, who are indebted to us. In order to forgive I need the holiness of God. In order to love, I need the holiness of God. Forgive as I have forgiven you. Lord, give me this love as you loved and forgiven me. The Our Father is asking for the power to forgive, don’t ask for your dying grandmother who is already 90 years old. Let her rest in peace. Ask for holiness, for the Holy Spirit, because we need him. And don’ let us fall into temptation. But we need the temptations but do not let us be overcome by them. The temptations give us the possibility of salvation.
There’s a wonderful example of the man who goes to a friend at midnight and asks for bread. Hospitality among the people of Israel is very important. It doesn’t matter the time; he needs to welcome him. St. Augustine gives a wonderful interpretation of the gifts that your father would never think to give you. Who would give a snake if he asks for a fish, and a scorpion if he asks for an egg and in St. Matthew a stone if he asks for bread? He says these gifts represent the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. These three have one important feature: they are gifts, you cannot earn them no matter how much you pray.
The fish is faith because it is always in the water surrounded by death and in the midst of this death it does not die. The opposite of faith is the serpent, who wants to take away this faith so that you do not love yourself or anyone else. Then the egg is a symbol of hope. You cannot see the chick, but the egg is a sign of a potential chick, this is hope, which is something we wait for and cannot see. The opposite of the egg is the scorpion which has a sting in its tail, so you are always looking behind you. That is where his weapon is, where his power lies. Then you always look behind, which is a lack of hope. And to give bread to the other is a sign of charity, to feed the hungry. The opposite is a hard heart or a stone. If you have a hard heart, you have no love for the other; you only love yourself.
Ask the Holy Spirit for faith, hope and charity. Ask and you will receive. Without being a saint, the Lord will give it to you. Without the Spirit we are totally weak, you cannot do anything if you don’t have the Lord but with him you can love and forgive. Ask for the Holy Spirit. This is what we need. Don’t talk too much when you pray. Look at the respect Abraham shows God when he prays. When you go to pray ask the Lord for holiness, to be holy today because who knows what will happen tomorrow. Keep asking to be holy today. Be convinced that the Lord can give you the grace to convert today. Leaving this Eucharist you can live chastity, leaving this Eucharist you can forgive your spouse from your heart. I forgive you because I want to be holy today. What a gift we have for ourselves and for others.