(Homily XIX on the Gospel of Matthew)
We present the relevant homily in summary form and in a free translation, conveying its exact meaning.
“Our Father”. It does not say “my Father,” but “our Father.” This is intentional, so that we may fully understand that we are all brothers among ourselves. Christ calls our neighbor “our brother” (Matt. 5:22, etc.). Therefore, we must have love for one another. We should not care only for ourselves, but for everyone. For the same reason He says: “our bread,” not “my bread”; “give us to-day,” not “give me”; “forgive us our debts,” etc.
“Who is in heaven”. Our common Father does not “dwell” on earth, but in heaven. Therefore, we, His children, should “detach” ourselves from the earth and connect ourselves with heaven, the “home” of our Father.
“Hallowed be Your name”. May our Father be glorified. Certainly, as God He already possesses glory—complete, eternal, and unchanging. However, since we have such a Father, we as His genuine children should glorify Him through our lives. Our actions must be such that they testify that we are indeed children of a Holy Father who dwells in heaven. Grant us, Lord, to live so purely and holy that You may be glorified by all of us, as He said to us: “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
“Your Kingdom come”. This must be our request, the desire of every genuine child of the heavenly Father: to ask for His Kingdom to come upon earth. And how? By not clinging to the earth, but to heaven (the dwelling place of our Father).
“Your will be done”. We must not only “detach” ourselves from the earth, desiring heavenly things, but we must also turn the earth into heaven. For in heaven, all the angels obey all His will—completely. Not only in part, or only in what they choose, but in everything. All in all! Likewise, we too must obey all the will of God. All in everything, like the angels in heaven! And He did not say “let Your will be done in me or in us,” but “on earth,” across the whole earth! Let deception be removed from the earth and truth be rooted in it, so that heaven no longer differs at all from earth. Let the earth already have its own angels.
“Our daily bread”: A little earlier, the Lord asked us to live like angels. However, angels, being incorporeal, do not need bread, whereas we, who have bodies, do need bread. And so that we do not become consumed by this concern, but remain carefree like angels with wings, always flying high in the heavens, the Lord allows us to ask from our heavenly Father for our bread—and only our bread (not money, not luxurious foods)—and not for the future, but only for today: “give us this day.” And this, so that we do not worry from today about tomorrow.
Addition by the author. God sent the Israelites their food every morning for forty years (the manna) (Numbers 11:7–9). It was exactly the amount needed for a family to get through the day. When they “stored up” food for the next day, that food became filled with worms! This happened because they showed disbelief in God’s providence (Exodus 16:16–20). (The food they kept for the Sabbath did not become worm-infested, because it was a day of rest, and God, respecting that day, did not send them food!) (Exodus 16:23–26). God is the same! Therefore, He can also give us daily our “daily bread,” without us worrying about tomorrow. It is enough to trust Him. The addition by the author ends. We continue with Saint John Chrysostom.
“And lead us not into temptation”. With this, the Lord wants to show us our weakness and insignificance, thereby putting a “brake” on our pride. At the same time, He teaches us to avoid temptations, because we do not know whether, at the moment of temptation, we will endure it. We may literally be “destroyed,” reduced to ruins, even to the point of not having the strength to pray. “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation” (Matt. 26:41), Christ said to His disciples that night in Gethsemane. That is: now, just before the temptation, do not give yourselves over to sleep, but stay awake and pray, so that you may have strength in the hour of temptation and endure it.
“Deliver us from the evil one”. It does not say deliver us from evil thoughts or from evil people, but from the evil one. With him we must have continuous struggle. To him we should attribute the “burdens” and “responsibilities” when people do us harm. Saint John Chrysostom, in another homily, writes that Christ calls the devil simply “the evil one,” without saying “the evil devil,” just as He says of a person “the evil man” (Matt. 12:35).
On the term ‘evil’ (Greek πονηρός, ponēros), Saint John Chrysostom states in another homily that it is derived from ‘pain’ (ponos), meaning that the devil suffers and is tormented by his own evil and by the envy that consumes him toward others (Homily on Psalm 139, P.G. 55: 420).
“And forgive us our trespasses”. The Lord always wants us to be pure like the angels. However, knowing how easily we slip into sin, He asks us to pray that He forgives our sins. By saying “forgive us our debts,” He reminds us of our sins, leading us to humility. And by saying “as we forgive our debtors,” He wants to free us from resentment.
Some additional comments by the author.
“Your will be done,” we say to the Lord, and at the same time we are “fighting tooth and nail” for our own will to be done.
“Give us this day our daily bread,” we also say, and yet we rush headlong to acquire all the goods of this world, so that we may secure them for our distant future—while the Lord wants us to care only for today: “give us this day.”
“And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us,” yet we ourselves think about how to take revenge.
Thus, we end up lying to God without interruption by praying the ‘Our Father.’ This alone should humble us and make us reflect on how unworthy we are before Him, and yet on the Lord’s great long-suffering toward us. Therefore, let us pray as the tax collector did in the parable (Luke 18:9–14).
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