The Our Father

When asked how to pray (Lk 11:1), Jesus gave us this powerful prayer.

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 this day our 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. Amen.
(Mt:6:9-13. Lk:11:2-4 has a shorter version.)

Informally, Catholics call this prayer the Our Father — for what should be obvious reasons. But it is also correctly called the Lord's Prayer, as it is called in the Mass itself. Many non-Catholic Christians who wish to distance themselves from Catholicism generally only call it the Lord's Prayer. Likewise, their wording of the prayer is often slightly different.

Catholics use traditional wording which may be slightly different from changing translations over the centuries. Catholicism's history goes back two millennia. Its prayers and teachings don't always match what far more recent start-up churches unilaterally decide they should be. The long history of Catholicism, going back to Jesus Himself — others can't say that without twisting history — is just one of the things that gives the Catholic Church so much credibility and helps to build faith among Catholics.
-----------
This is not the place for a full discussion of each section of the Our Father. But I will take a look at one part that is often misunderstood and which many people particularly dwell on:

"...forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Far too many people say those words but think that it means something different. They think that it actually means: "...forgive us our trespasses, IF we forgive those who trespass against us." Many people assume it means that if we don't effectively forgive all others, that God won't forgive us either.

But that is not what it says here, and it is not what it means. The prayer specifically asks God to forgive us AS — in the same way — that we forgive others. That is different. Is it okay if we sometimes don't forgive others?

The translation of "as" is found in the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE). Others may be different. However, the above translation is the shared English translation throughout almost all of the Catholic English speaking world. Regardless, we are all called to the forgiveness of others.

In a homily on September 12th and 13th, 2026, Deacon Kurt Adler reminded the congregation — and taught others for the first time — that for us to receive forgiveness for our sins, we must do two things — especially in Confession: (1) We must ask for forgiveness; and, (2) We must have real contrition for our transgressions — even if our contrition isn't completely perfect. Confession will be discussed at a later time in the class. Nonetheless, it is not too soon to mention that, after the Resurrection, Jesus gave the power of forgiveness to his Apostles. (See: John 20:23: "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” NABRE).

Of course, in order to forgive sins, the Apostles had to know what those sins were. Therefore, penitents had to tell them what their sins were. The Apostles also had to have a sense that the penitent was actually sorry for their sins. Many non-Catholic Christians insist that one should only tell their sins directly to Jesus. They say that Catholics are wrong to tell their sins to a priest.

But that fully ignores or, minimally, misinterprets John 20:23 when Jesus Himself set up the way to forgive sins after He was no longer with us. Non-Catholic Christians often explain their reasoning by saying that Jesus died for all of our sins and that, therefore, there is certainly not even a reason to ask for further forgiveness. Scripturally, that is wrong. If Jesus thought that, He would never have set up a way to forgive sins after He was no longer with us. Such people ignore the plain meaning of that verse.

Not only should we do what Deacon Adler explained must happen when we approach a priest in Confession, it is also what we ourselves must do when we approach Jesus in our own prayers — which we should also be doing. Further, this is what we should do with each other when we have offended someone in our day-to-day lives: With sincere contrition, we should ask for forgiveness.

Most of us develop a way of interacting with others who have done bad things to us, although it's not always the same with everyone. If that is a fair and caring way of giving forgiveness, then we ask God to judge us in the same way. If it is not, we nonetheless ask God to judge us the same way.

But it does not assume that we must forgive everyone every time even if they don't ask for our forgiveness... "I'm sorry" is a very simple example of asking for forgiveness — but only if it comes with actual contrition. However, sometimes something is required beyond a simple "I'm sorry" as we ask for forgiveness.

We can — and often should — still forgive people who have not asked us for forgiveness and even who express no contrition at all (no sorrow for their sin). That is separately called "Mercy." It has been called the highest form of Love. It is also found in the Beatitudes in which Jesus Himself taught us: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7; NCB.)

Mercy is an important virtue which we should cultivate. But, although He is just, even God isn't merciful to absolutely everyone.

On the cross, Jesus was flanked by two thieves. The one on His left mocked Him. The other thief chided the mocking thief saying that they deserved their fate, but that Jesus didn't. He then turned to Jesus and asked that Jesus remember him when He comes into His kingdom. Jesus told him that that very day he would be with Him in paradise.

But what about the other thief? Did Jesus then turn to him and say, "Okay, you can come, too!"

No, Jesus didn't. We don't know what happened to that thief or where he went when he died, but it's clear that he wasn't with Jesus in paradise that day.

There are also other places in Scripture where Jesus is clear that certain sins are particularly serious. (Among them are sins against the Holy Spirit and leading children into sin.) Nonetheless, we cannot judge God's judgments. Too many try to do that very thing.

Overall, we believe that those who come to Jesus and ask for His forgiveness with real and sincere contrition, were and are forgiven and welcomed by Jesus.

Therefore, the Our Father tells us that the Father will forgive us in the same way that we forgive others. It does not say that we must forgive everyone. On the other hand, we had better be very careful if we do not forgive. Forgiveness and mercy are better than not forgiving. Jesus wants to forgive us. We, too, should want — sincerely, as much as possible — to forgive others. But, for some things, that doesn't always happen.

Nonetheless, the Our Father at least appears to refer to the consistent ways in which we handle this in our own lives: "...as we forgive those..."

Consider this when you pray the Our Father. Consider this in your day-to-day life.

Carefully memorize this prayer.

-----------------------
We have looked at just one section of the Our Father. We will not cover them all. Nonetheless, I will very briefly mention one more: "...Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Luisa Piccarreta (born April 23rd, 1865, died March 4, 1947), a mystic, received numerous messages during her lifetime about the importance of the Divine Will. We ourselves must strive to live God's will every day in our lives. The Our Father reminds us of this every time we pray it.

Luisa's writings are extensive. There are many books related to her. There are also some comparatively shorter books which present the messages she received in shorter forms. The more we actually live God's Divine Will, the more His will "will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." Click here to begin that journey — or try to find someone knowledgeable about it. (That isn't always easy.)
©L. S. Scarpitta