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Our Father: Reflections on the Lord's Prayer

By A.J. Cardinal Simonis
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999, 125 pp., $12)
Reviewed by Robert P. Mills
May 3, 2000
Our Father
In today's tumultuous ecumenical arena it is often remarked that Christians need to focus more on what we hold in common and less on what divides us. Unfortunately that noble sentiment rarely extends beyond building a Habitat for Humanity house or stocking a local soup kitchen.

Feeding and housing the poor, of course, are good and proper, for as Christians we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. However, love of neighbor is the second of the two great commandments. The first, Jesus said, is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). So if we really want to emphasize our oneness in Christ (Eph. 4:4-6), it seems the better place to start would be to build up one another in our knowledge and love of God.

And if that is our desire, we could hardly do better than to join in a study of the Lord's Prayer.

Growing attentive to God
"In the Lord's Prayer we do not simply repeat the words of Jesus Christ, who taught us this prayer, but we actually encounter Jesus himself," writes A.J. Cardinal Simonis, archbishop of Utrecht, the Netherlands.

That simple statement captures and conveys the spirit of Our Father, which, Simonis notes, is not a scholarly treatise "but comprises thoughts and practical suggestions for prayer, with occasional digressions on topical issues or personal experiences."

Simonis, who prays the Lord's Prayer "about ten times a day," begins by noting that to pray "is to grow attentive to God, to his presence, to his love. … Praying is first and foremost seeking to know God's will, creating space to allow him to enter my life." In the meditations that follow he explores each petition of the Lord's Prayer in this light.

He deals pastorally with those who express concern about praying to God as "Father," asking of such traits as being merciful and loving,"are these specifically feminine qualities?" and answering, "these are human qualities which may well manifest themselves in a typically feminine or typically masculine form." He concludes "The God we address as Our Father in heaven is a God with strong motherly traits - but he is and remains the Father."

Humble and humane
A sampling of Simonis' reflections on the petitions of the Lord's Prayer includes:

  • "The name of God is a name that delivers people from the slavery and oppression of Egypt. It is a promise that demands to be realized for and among us human beings. Therefore the name of God is hallowed wherever God causes his revealed name, his promise and liberating presence, to be known."
  • "Praying for the coming of the kingdom of God makes us humble and humane. It makes us realize that we are dependent on God and on one another."
  • "Forgiveness means that evil does not have the last word. You are given the chance to start over again. This is not something you can give yourself. … a person who accepts the forgiveness of sins takes on serious responsibilities in return."
  • "To pray for delivery from the evil one is not to assume a passive attitude. It makes us attentive to things that, seen from the perspective of the Gospel, are essential to every process of liberation: conversion and forgiveness, surrender and love."
As one would expect from a cardinal, Simonis writes from a distinctly Roman Catholic perspective. Protestants will be especially sensitive to this in his comments on the sacraments. And yet even at those points where Protestants might disagree with him, Simonis' meditations reward careful reflection.

Praying and doing
Crossing denominational lines to study the Lord's Prayer would be unlikely to inhibit building houses for Habitat, stocking soup kitchens or engaging in other ecumenical ministries of service to our neighbors. Indeed, the opposite is more probable, since prayer "serves, or ought to serve, as the foundation for my Christian actions. … Praying and doing go hand in hand."

As these meditations illustrate, those who desire to grow in their love of God and neighbor will find the Lord's Prayer an unsurpassed companion and guide toward that goal. By drawing our attention to God, it helps us see our neighbors as God sees them. Even more important, the prayer Jesus taught his disciples is an ever present opportunity for all of God's children to know and love God more.


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