Part Four: Christian Prayer › Section Two of Part Four: The Lord’s Prayer “Our Father!” ›› Article 1: The Summary of the Whole Gospel

› IN BRIEF

Questions and Answers

2811. How does Tertullian call the Our Father? (CCC 2761) Tertullian calls the Our Father “the summary of the whole gospel”.
Tertullian († 225) is an important ecclesiastical author at the time of the Early Church Fathers.
2812. In what sense is the Our Father at the centre of the scriptures? (CCC 2762) The Our Father is at the centre of the scriptures in the sense that it contains and summarizes all the prayers found in the Bible.
2813. In what context is the Our Father found in Mt? (CCC 2763) In Mt the Our Father is found in the context of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7).
2814. What two things does the Our Father teach according to St Thomas Aquinas? (CCC 2763) According to St Thomas Aquinas († 1274) the Our Father teaches:
1. the things we can rightly desire
2. the order in which we should desire them.
2815. What does the name “The Lord’s Prayer” mean? (CCC 2765) The name “The Lord’s Prayer” means that this prayer is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus.
2816. Why did the Our Father become the prayer of the Church? (CCC 2767) The Our Father became the prayer of the Church, because the first communities prayed it three times a day, in place of the Jewish “Eighteen Benedictions”.
The Jewish “Eighteen Benedictions”, now 19, are recited on weekdays at each of the three services in the synagogue.
2817. How does the Our Father manifest its liturgical character? (CCC 2768) The Our Father manifests its liturgical character through the plural “our” that expresses a petition for the whole Church.
2818. To what audience are most of the patristic commentaries on the Our Father addressed? (CCC 2769) Most of the patristic commentaries on the Our Father are addressed to catechumens and neophytes.