The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-01-07

mons on tt1eS genera SuoJeCt OF
Catholic Worship This sermon
was prepared by the Rev. A. 8. van
de GeveI, of Walter, Mont.
1.-THE LORDS PRAYER "A
In our instructions on the Mass we
have come 10 the conclusion OF the
canon and have reached the COM
munion. the last principal part OF the
Mass. From the time of the apostles,
the Lords Prayer has formed a con
stituent part Of this section of the
Mass, both in the east andin the west.
ANCIENT Mass books amply prove this:
assertion. The Lords Prayer is recit-
ed in. a loud tone OF voice, or sung
us is the preface; and as the preface
opens, the canon or the conservation
division of the Mass. so does the Our
Father begin the communion rite of
The sacrifice. No better prayer cohld
he said in preparation for holy conf
munion than the Our Father" .@'. T..
The Most Venerable Of Prayers. -
The "Ouf Father" is the most VEN
cradle. of all prayers. because it wds
composed by our blessed Lord and
Savior. Jesus Christ, himself, It is
the most perfect of prayers. because
it contains all we may desire and
presents our petitions in the order in
which we should desire them. In the
first part and introduction to the
prayer, our Lord teaches us to call
God Our Father" thereby impressing
upon us the fatherhOod of God and this
brotherhood of man. God is our father
because He created and redeemed us.
adopted US as His children in baptism
and prepared for us the heavenly in
Eeritance We add Who art in
heaven" because though God is pres
ent everywhere, He manifests His
glory to the angels and saints in
heaven These words, moreover, re-
mind us of the majesty of God, incite
us TO pray with greater reverence and
inspire us to suffer, do and dare more
courageously in the battle of life be-
cause Of the hope Of reaching some
day the heavenly homo of Our Father
Things to be Desired.
The second part Of "Our Father"
comprises seven petitions. We shall
explain these to you in accordance
with Saint Thomas Aquinas, the great
Dominican monk of the thirteenth
century, the prince Of scholastic theo-:
logians, known in the schools under
The name Of the Angelic Doctor. AS
said above, these petitions express
all we may rightly desire and come in
the order in which we should desire
things. .-.-
What may be desired, and in what
order should We desire things? We
should desire, first, to attain the end
for which we were created; second,
to obtain the means enabling us to
reach our end; third, not to be him
dered by obstacles from reaching our
end: AS to the first point, what is
tic end for which we were created?
With the catechism you answer: God
made me- to- know Him, to love Him,
40 serve Him in this world and to be
happy with Him forever in the next"
The first two petitions of the Lord
Prayer cover these two points. By
saying, "Hallowed be Thy name" in
the first petition, we wish that the
name of God, that is, God Himself,
may be known, loved and served by
all men in this world. BY adding, in
the second petition, THY kingdom
come" we pray that all men may be
happy with God forever in heaven.
The Means to the End.
Next come the means TO reach our
end-heaven. The first and foremost
means to attain our end is doing the
will of God, because mot every one
that saith, Lord, Lord shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father who
is in heaven, he shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven" Matt. VII, 21.)
Therefore, in the third petition we
is in heaven" Though we can never
hope on earth to do the will of God as
fully, as INCREASINGLY, as fervently as
the angels in heaven; we nevertheless
do His will as perfectly as possible
by avoiding all wiIIful transgressions
of His commandments. But, in order
10 do the will of God in all things, we
need His assistance; therefore, we
ask God, in the fourth petition, as a
second means to attain our end, tt
give us this day our daily bread,
whether we mean by this holy com
munion, whose daily reception, says
Aquinas, benefits man, or whether we
understand thereby, the food, clothes
shelter, health and all other require
ments of soul and body. BY having
lis pray for our daily bread for this
day" only, and not for several days
Christ teaches us to pray every day.
Obstacles are Many.
But we meet with many obstacles
on the path to heaven. We pray fol
the removal of these obstacles in the
fifth. sixth and seventh petitions o.
the Our Father The greatest oh
stacIe is sin: "Know you not that the
unjust shall not possess the kingdom
of God. Do not err; neither form
Gators, nor idolaters, nor adulterer:
s. nor thieves, nor covetohs, mol
drunkards, nor railers, nor extortion
ers, shall possess the Kingdom of God
G Cor. vi, 800 For this reason WI
beg pardon for our sins, saying: For
give us our trespasses as we forgiYt
those who trespaSS against U.S." Herr