Day 353: The Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel." "Since the Lord... after handing over the practice of prayer, said elsewhere, 'Ask and you will receive,' and since everyone has petitions which are peculiar to his circumstances, the regular and appropriate prayer [the Lord's Prayer] is said first, as the foundation of further desires." CCC 2761

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the Lord's Prayer given to us by Jesus Christ. He gave us this prayer after the Apostles requested of Him to teach them how to pray (Lk 11:1-4). St. Matthew in his Gospel presents Christ giving a more complete version during the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 6:9-13). As a rabbi, it is likely that Jesus would have repeated key teachings in different places and times for different audiences, which is shown in these two Gospels. It is the version recorded by St. Matthew that has become adopted almost universally by Christians, and one we see in the Mass/Divine Liturgy. As Tertullian is quoted as saying above, the Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel." As noted in CCC 2763, "All the Scriptures - the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms - are fulfilled in Christ" and the Sermon on the Mount summarized the Gospel or "Good News," with the Lord's Prayer "at the center of this proclamation." It is truly "the most perfect of prayers," as St. Thomas Aquinas said, a model for how we should pray to our Father. Indeed, the very act of praying to God as Abba or "Our Father" is extraordinary in itself, for through Christ we are His adopted children, able to cry out to Him as Father (Gal 4:4-7). You don't see such an intimate relationship with the Eternal Creator in other religions, like Islam for one. 

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

Accepting God as a trustworthy and loving Father is crucial for understanding the essence of prayer... The prayer is designed to reshape our values and our ethos. It guides us to reorder what we want and prioritize spiritual values to align with God's plan. The Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer are interconnected; both contribute to the formation of a new heart. Our spiritual life will flourish if our prayer flourishes. (p. 222)

Finally, Brant Pitre has a great video on calling on God as Our Father: