Yesterday I gave you
my outline of some ways we can look at the petition from The Lord’s Prayer “Thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. What do the Old Testament, the New
Testament and the Catechism of the Catholic Church tell us about this thought:
Here is what I wrote yesterday in point one: God’s will, which
is to be done on earth, is found in the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes. It
is found throughout the New Testament in the words of Jesus Christ and those of
the New Testament writers. It is the blueprint for the way life needs to be
led. God created the world, and His will for the world is made very clear in
these two “direction manuals.” It boils down to loving God enough to follow His
commands, to loving our neighbor and
loving ourselves enough to want to spend eternity with God. He tells us
specifically how to do this, but if we constantly change God’s ways into our
ways we can truthfully say we have written our own manual. No matter what the
world tells you, it won’t work.
Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him and
he will make your paths straight.
Deuteronomy
26:16-19:
The Lord your God commands you
this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your
heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in
obedience to him that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws— that you
will listen to him. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his
people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that
you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above
all the nations he has made and that you will be a people
holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2: If you
fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the
nations on earth. All these
blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.
Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2822 Our
Father "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth." He "is
forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish." His commandment is "that you love
one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." This commandment summarizes all the
others and expresses his entire will.
Matthew 19:16-22: Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked,
“Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask
me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is
good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he
inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit
adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor
your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 5:17-20: “Do not think that I
have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore
anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches
others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever
practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of
heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Acts 5:29: Peter and the other apostles
replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings.”
“When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God that his
kingdom come, his will be done on earth and in our own lives. As we do, we
enter into the deepest hope and driving force of Jesus’ earthly life. The
proclamation of the kingdom, or reign, of God was the major focus of Jesus’
public ministry. In the very first chapter of his gospel, Mark begins his
account of Jesus’ ministry with these words: “After John had been
arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, and there he proclaimed the good news from
God. ‘The time has come,’ he said, ‘And the kingdom of God is close at hand.
Repent and believe the good news.’” It was about this reign of God that
Jesus told his earthy and often unnerving string of stories that we know as
parables. It was in order to make this kingdom present -- to make it a living
reality -- that Jesus acted in opposition to all those forces that oppressed
and imprisoned people. And so, Jesus made the reign of God present when he
reached out to touch the leper and strengthen the limbs of the paralyzed, when
he expelled demons that drained the life out of people, and when he opened the
eyes of the blind.” Fr. Robin Ryan, cphttp://www.catholicsoncall.org/week-two-your-kingdom-come-your-will-be-done-earth-it-heaven%E2%80%9D
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