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There is no specific prayer prescribed for the home visit. Some Vincentians are more comfortable offering spontaneous prayers, while others prefer to recite a more formal prayer. But there is one special prayer we might consider sharing more often: the one Jesus gave to His disciples, fifty-six simple words that most of us learned as children. With non-Christian neighbors, it is best to offer a nondenominational or interfaith prayer, but with our many neighbors who grew up in Christian homes, what could be more welcoming than a prayer that most will be able to say along with us?
The words of the Lord’s Prayer are so familiar to Christians that we perhaps sometimes recite them out of habit, without truly reflecting on the many graces that accompany them, graces that we seek for ourselves and for the neighbor. Right from the beginning, Jesus asks us to address God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, as "our Father." Not as Almighty Lord of All, but as our Father. Not as Christ's Father but as our Father. What a remarkable invitation Christ gives us to share in the intimacy of a familial bond of love with God - our Father! – an invitation we extend to the neighbor.
These two simple words also call us to another dimension of charity, or the Divine Love. When we pray to our Father, we affirm our commitment to love our neighbor as ourselves, a love which Christ assures us is the same as our love for God. When we pray to our Father, we pray for and with each other, which is exactly the purpose of our prayer, and of our visit, with the neighbor. With these two words, we simultaneously offer the neighbors’ needs to God and welcome them into communion with us.
When we ask that God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, we are not asking Him to exercise His own power. We are asking instead for the grace to be conformed to His will. As Bl. Frédéric Ozanam explained, we seek to do His will neither reluctantly, nor by compulsion, but "as it is in Heaven, with the love and the joy of angels." [Baunard, 343] It reminds us to “serve the poor cheerfully.” [Rule, Part I, 1.8]
We offer our complete trust in our Father when we ask Him for our daily bread while at the same time asking with confidence to be judged according to how we judge the neighbor. This point, in particular, Jesus re-emphasizes after reciting the words of the prayer, promising us the Father's forgiveness on the condition that we offer our own forgiveness to each other. What an amazing commission, what an awesome duty, and what a reminder to refrain from judgment of the neighbor! [Rule, Part I, 1.9] By refraining from judgment, and forgiving one another, we seek to join in God's infinite mercy.
On our visits, let us consider offering the simple words of the Lord's Prayer, but let us offer them deeply, intentionally, and with a special commitment to sharing our daily bread, our forgiveness, and our love with the Father, with the neighbor, and with one another.
Contemplate
Even if I don’t say the Lord’s Prayer, how can I better live it on my home visits?
Recommended Reading
Faces of Holiness
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