Saints LightThe Our Father, Petition by Petition
The Our Father puts God first (his name, his kingdom, his will) and then hands him our needs: bread, forgiveness, protection from temptation and from the Evil One.
What this lesson teaches
- The Our Father is the prayer Jesus himself taught, a summary of the whole Gospel.
- It has an address and seven petitions: three about God, four about our needs.
- Forgiving others is the condition we attach to our own request for forgiveness.
- Praying it slowly trains us to want God first and our needs second.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 2759
- CCC 2761
- CCC 2803-2806
- CCC 2846
- CCC 2854
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: Matthew 6:9-10; Matthew 6:11-13.
A sample question from this lesson
How are the seven petitions of the Our Father arranged?
- Seven requests about our own needs, in order of importance
- Three about God's name, kingdom and will, then four about our needs
- One for each day of the week, to be prayed on that day
- Four about God and three about the Church
Show the answer
Three about God's name, kingdom and will, then four about our needs. The first three petitions are about God (thy name, thy kingdom, thy will) and the last four about us, as CCC 2803-2805 explains.
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Petition
- A request made to God; the Our Father contains seven.
- Supersubstantial bread
- The Douay-Rheims wording for 'daily bread' in Matthew, pointing to the Eucharist as well as ordinary food.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"The Our Father, Petition by Petition" is lesson 2 of Learning to Pray. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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