And on to the theology!

Reflections On the Crucifixion and the Lord’s Prayer
By Chris Rooney
All scripture references are from the Revised English Bible, copyright 1989 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.

Every night before I go to bed I pray the rosary and every time lately, as I look at the crucifix and say the Lord’s Prayer, I have found myself reflecting on how very much the Our Father serves as a means of foreshadowing the cross and how the cross can be an exposition on the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer.

In this piece I am going to attempt to convey some of these insights by going through the prayer bit-by-bit and sharing my thoughts on each part.

Our Father who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom Come,
Thy Will be done,
On Earth as it is in Heaven

Give us each day out daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil

For Thine is the Kingdom,
The Power
And The Glory

For ever and ever
Amen

Thy Kingdom Come:
The Kingdom has come in Christ and it will be realised and fulfilled in the lives and the actions of each one of us. This part of the prayer can be seen in many different lights, not simply the one I’ve written above. For instance, reflecting on the gruesome and sorrowful event of the Crucifixion, to pray “Thy Kingdom Come” could be a lament for the state of humanity that we would willingly and even at times enthusiastically crucify our Lord. We crucify Christ every time we deny him in the guise of our neighbours and yet despite this he is always with us and is helping all of us towards the realisation of the Kingdom.

Thy Will be done:
And this is His will being done. That Christ would live and die for us even though we nailed him up. That he would give his life willingly, in full knowledge of what would take place in order that his father could raise him up three days later and place Death under his feet, conquered forever.

This has been done On Earth as it is in Heaven:
Perhaps it might seem odd to quote an ancient Hermetic axiom here, but the phrase “As above, so below” is a very succinct way of rephrasing this truth about the functions of both the Cross and Resurrection. Mystically speaking actions on earth have their counterparts in heaven. This is illustrated throughout the Bible in the narratives and symbolism of both the Old and New Testaments. It is also how the Eucharistic rite functions, and it’s one reason why it is important that Christ says to Peter “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; what you forbid on earth shall be forbidden in heaven, and what you allow on earth shall be allowed in heaven.” (Matt 16:19). It is this reason why when Christ died on the Cross, was buried and arose again after three days in the tomb, his actions conquered death and the powers of hell forever.

Give us this day our daily bread:
This line is not only a petition for the material substances of life, though physical sustenance is certainly an important thing to pray for. When I look at the Cross at this point in the prayer the only thing I can think of is the Sacramental life, the Eucharistic feast, where we all come together at the table of our Lord and share in his flesh and blood, which have become bread and wine for all people. The solidarity of the communion rite; which bind us all as Christians regardless of our denominations or the frequency of our participation in liturgy and sacrament. On another level I think that this request for Daily Bread could be taken as a petition for whatever it is in each of our lives, which is sustaining and edifying. Most people do not go to mass daily, but there are things in each of our lives that could be like bread for the soul. Like a sacrament of the present moment, it could be something relatively mundane, or it could be spontaneous. It might be something routine like one’s daily work, or prayer life. Whatever it is that makes you pause and wonder at creation, give thanks, or rejoice in even the smallest simplest way, that could be our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses:
As I wrote above, we crucify our Lord daily, this might seem to be a severe judgement but it’s not meant as one. I see it as an unpleasant fact of the human condition that every single one of us is prone to; I know I certainly am. Our trespasses take many forms; they are our weaknesses, our indiscretions, our human selfishness and fallibility. When we deny Christ in our neighbours, when we refuse to see the Lord’s face in the eyes of our enemies or in the faces of the poor, and the dispossessed, and the disabled, we are taking part in the crucifixion.

As we forgive those who trespass against us:
But there is always hope. Christ set us the ultimate example, the only example that could ever truly matter. He was lead to the hill and nailed to two big pieces of wood, bloody, exhausted both physically and emotionally, abused, betrayed, and humiliated but as he was raised up from the ground he prayed “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34) And though it says nothing of how Jesus bore the scourging, and beating, and the crown of thorns, I believe it is a safe bet that for every blow visited upon him he returned it, if only silently, with a petition to the Father for mercy and forgiveness for his abusers. And for me, knowing that Christ was able to forgive us with his dying words in agony, betrayal, and scorn. I know that I can do nothing less. And I know that the only way I can live my life is in imitation of Christ on the cross, I’m by no means very good at it, I always forget that my fellow human beings are Christ, and I have treated my brother and my family and even my friends in deplorable ways throughout my life; but knowing that I was forgiven before I even started to fuck up helps me to strive towards doing the same in my life and with those who have hurt me, and with those who for what ever reason and by whichever methods challenge me.

And lead us not into temptation:
Paul talks often about how we are saved by grace “Lest any man should boast”. I think that this might be part of this passage. It is easy to become wrapped up in our own assumed piety, we all know the right way of praying, of worshipping, of fasting. We always assume that our actions are benevolent and that we are being generous and it hurts and can sometimes be hard to accept if and when we are shown in some way to be less than our own self-image would dictate. We all have our moments of self-righteousness and it’s the most painful to encounter when this self-importance and false piety is displayed in a religious context. It is a temptation to assume that since we have been saved, or have been born again, or have never strayed, that this makes us something special, that this somehow gives us a sense of entitlement to something. Of course when I reflect on the Cross--and how that salvation was won--and when I think about how we all have a hand in it, there is nothing to be proud of. Since I started reflecting on this, and even more so since I started writing this article I can find nothing to boast about, because this salvation was won with the blood and broken body of God’s only begotten Son.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

But deliver us from evil:
Lord deliver us from the evil that we have and continue to carryout against you and against each other, lead us into the Kingdom in humility, in penance, in love and in longsuffering. Through Christ our Lord amen.
When Christ was on the Cross he was placed in between two criminals. One of these men started berating Jesus saying “’Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself, and us.’ But the other rebuked him saying ‘Have you no fear of God? You are under the same sentence as he is. In your case it is plain justice; we are paying the price for our misdeeds. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said ‘Jesus, remember me when you come to your throne.’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly I tell you: today you will be with me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23:39-43)

For Thine is the Kingdom,
And the Power,
And the Glory,
For ever and ever
Amen. <