Corpus Christi Blog

And Forgive Us Our Trespasses, as We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us

07-25-2021Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A. in Theology and Catechetics

The Catechism refers to the fifth petition in the Lord’s prayer as “astonishing.” It says that the first part of this phrase is implied in the first three petitions, which honor and praise God, because Christ’s sacrifice was precisely for the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore, in praising Him, we are acknowledging what He has done for us in that act. However, “according to the second phrase, our petition will not be heard unless we have first met a strict requirement. Our petition looks to the future, but our response must come first, for the two parts are joined by the single word ‘as’” (CCC #2838). If we want forgiveness for our transgressions, we are obligated to forgive the transgressions of others.

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Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

07-18-2021Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A. in Theology and Catechetics

After the first three petitions of praise to God for God’s sake, the rest of the Lord’s Prayer draws us into God’s mercy as we recognize our fallen humanity and need for God’s assistance in all things. We begin with the fourth petition by praying, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

The first words of this petition – give us – are a request from us to our Father with a sense of implicit trust in His goodness. Just as a child is completely dependent and trusts his earthly father to care for his needs, we are helpless children who turn to our heavenly Father for our earthly and spiritual needs with the confidence that He will provide for us. That trust and confidence we express in asking Him to provide for us “glorifies our Father by acknowledging how good he is, beyond all goodness” (CCC #2828). Even in the act of asking something for ourselves, we cannot help but praise Him in the process because of His unending goodness.

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Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven

07-11-2021Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A. in Theology and Catechetics

We now come to the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer, which is also the last of the seven petitions directed to God Himself for His own sake – “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

It is God’s deepest desire for every single one of us to live with Him eternally in heaven. That is precisely why He sent His Son, Jesus, who is “the way, the truth, and the life,” so that we might follow Him and His commands in order to merit our place in our heavenly home (Jn 14:6). When we ask that God’s will be done, our first questions might have something to do with knowing and understanding what God’s actual will is in our day to day lives. The Catechism teaches us that we begin with Jesus’ own words regarding the new commandments. “His commandment is ‘that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.’ This commandment summarizes all the others and expresses his entire will” (CCC #2822). Jesus did not come to abolish the old law, but rather to fulfill it. We still ought to obey the Ten Commandments, but Jesus provides the motivation and love for following them rather than expecting us to just adhere to them robotically. For example, we choose to be honest, not only because God has told us lying is against His will, but also because we love the person with whom we are speaking as a child of God and do not want our words to cause harm. Knowing and doing the will of God always begins with the consideration of love for the other. That being said, we must be prudent in our discernment of love, because what might appear to be a loving action in the earthly sense is not actual love in the context of eternal salvation. We must strive to do what is best for the other’s soul.

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Thy Kingdom Come

07-04-2021Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A. in Theology and Catechetics

As we continue our examination of the Lord’s Prayer, we come to the second petition – “Thy kingdom come.” In this petition, we call upon God with the hope that Jesus will return soon to take us all to the kingdom of heaven where we can bask in the glory of our true King for all eternity. No kingdom has ever existed on earth that can match the beauty and justice of the heavenly kingdom that awaits us.

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