Pope Francis on March 20, 2019, continued his commentaries on the Lord’s Prayer, focusing on the theme “Your Will be Done.”
His comments came during the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square attended by the faithful from around the world.
“Continuing our catechesis on the Lord’s Prayer today we focus on the third invocation: ‘Your will be done.’ This must be read as united with the first two – ‘Hallowed be your name’ and ‘Your Kingdom come’ – so that together they form a triptych: Hallowed be your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done”
The Holy Father explained that in the prayer we ask that the search for God is successful and His plan of salvation is fulfilled. And he pointed out that God searches for each person.
“God is not ambiguous, He does not hide behind enigmas, he has not planned the future of the world in an indecipherable way. No, He is clear,” Francis insisted. “If we do not understand this, we risk not understanding the meaning of the third expression of the Lord’s Prayer.
“This, without a shadow of a doubt, is the will of God: the salvation of man, of man, of every one of us. God, with His love, knocks on the door of our heart. Why? To attract us; to attract us to Him and to lead us ahead on the path of salvation. God is close to every one of us with His love, to lead us by the hand to salvation. How much love there is behind this!”
The Pope said that in praying the Lord’s Prayer – in saying “You will be done” – we are not asked to bow our heads like we are slaves. Rather, God wants us to be free.
“The Lord’s Prayer, indeed, is the prayer of sons, not of slaves; but of sons who know their father’s heart and are of his plan of love. Woe to us if, pronouncing these words, we were to shrug our shoulders as a sign of surrender in the face of a destiny that repels us yet we are unable to change.
“On the contrary, it is a prayer full of ardent trust in God Who wants goodness, life, and salvation for us. A courageous, even combative prayer, because in the world there are many, too many situations that do not follow God’s plan.”
The Holy Father’s Full Commentary
