“Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.”
Jesus then begins on the prayer that envelops all prayer, the Our Father. From the very first word, love of neighbor is woven into this sublime prayer, with the communal “our” supplanting the usual “my,” turning the very emphasis of one’s prayer outward, that it may be for the sake of one’s community, the Church, and the world. The unveiling of love is then addressed by the term “Father,” which in Aramaic would have been “Abba,” a highly affectionate term. You have been taken into the spirit of adoption in such a way that the Father looks on you with the same love that He does His Son, and has opened to you the familiarity of being your Abba: “You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father)” (Romans 8:15). God is your loving Father, who will love you as His child as you hand yourself entirely towards Him. Now, to pray for yourself is necessary, to pray for all is love, for all are in need of prayer: “By all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the spirit; and in the same watching with all instance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). The Father, who is in heaven, draws you to Himself with love, which draws your soul out of itself to heavenly realities, putting you amongst the angels and saints in love of the Father, away from things of earth into a place of pure love of God. Thus, He is said to be in heaven, not as though He were confined there and far from you, but that He longs for you to move from things of earth into the eternal wedding feast, to where love is perfect and does not fade: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that can not fade, reserved for you in heaven” (1 Peter 1:3-4). Heaven is in your heart, for there has the Trinity come: “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Though there is a more complete heavenly abode for you, your eternal life has begun, you live in the love story that will find its climax at death, for it should be the goal of all Christians to die of love. Furthermore, as the bearer of God’s presence, you are sent in His name, much like an ambassador of a country comes in the name of its ruler, that the words of the ruler may come through the ambassador and is the representative thereof. So, in saying, “Hallowed be thy name,” you are petitioning your heavenly Father to make His love present through you, that He may be hallowed rather than scandalized by those you encounter: “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16), “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36), “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) all mean the same thing: Love as God loves. Therefore, it is good to pray the Our Father often, for in running to Abba and asking Him for His name to be hallowed, you pray that His presence may be venerated both in name, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:7) and in the lives of His faithful, that they may be torches of His light and love in the darkness of this world: “You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14), “And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5).