Wednesday After Trinity Sunday

Three Petitions Of The Our Father

Preparation. - As children of God we should seek the interests of our heavenly Father as indicated in the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer. Let us consider, first, their excellence, and secondly, the spiritual profit we can derive therefrom; and then let us resolve to seek in all our actions glory for God, grace for ourselves and the divine will to sanctify our conduct. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

I. Excellence Of The First Three Petitions Of The Our Father.

What is more noble for our mind, more sanctifying for our heart, and more re-assuring for our conduct than God's glory, grace and will? The glory of God is the most sublime of intentions, for the Lord Himself proposes it in all His works. And we pray to be able to do it ourselves, when we say: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name"; may Thy name be known, honored, glorified in all things by all men, especially by us who pray for this object.

"Thy kingdom come." May the kingdom of Thy grace be established in us. By means of sanctifying grace we live by God's life, and by fidelity to actual grace, we daily increase this divine life in us, which enables us to participate in the grandeurs and riches of the Most High. His reign in us, therefore, brings us every good.

"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," in my heart and in my conduct, as in the angels and saints. O will all wise, all perfect and amiable, what else is there in heaven and on earth more precious and desirable! Thou reignest over all creation, over the whole heavenly court. In accomplishing thee, I render to my God, my Father, a most pure glory, and increase in myself the empire of His grace. By uniting myself to thee I find peace, sanctification and salvation.

O glory, O grace, O will of my God, you are truly infinite in excellence. By glorifying my Creator I renounce all vanity, all self-complacency, and, with Sts. Ignatius and Alphonsus, I embrace the intention the most worthy of generous hearts. In endeavoring to increase habitual grace in me, I sanctify my soul, perfecting its faith, hope and charity, and I daily increase in it the gifts and virtues that make saints, and strengthen therein the reign of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

But what of the divine will? By perfectly fulfilling it in all things, I die to myself, to my notions, to my particular tastes. All my thoughts, words and actions are regulated according to the divine pleasure, and I am ready to accept and undergo any hardship whatsoever to be entirely conformed to it. - O holy dispositions, come into me and remain forever, for, becoming thereby the Lord's docile child, I shall always live submissive and united to my adopted Father, the Lord of the universe.

II. Spiritual Profit Derivable From The First Three Petitions Of The Our Father.

If we seriously consider and appreciate the value of these three great goods, God's glory, grace and will, which we pray for in the Lord's Prayer, we shall attach our heart to them, and this will be for us a source of holy thoughts, of noble and disinterested sentiments. Instead of seeking ourselves and being inclined to what flatters our self-love and our senses, we shall, like the angels and saints, long solely for the inestimable advantage of glorifying the heavenly Father, of living in His intimacy and of cheerfully submitting to His good pleasure. Our soul, being then elevated by the love of such sublime goods, we shall be less agitated, less influenced by external events, for we shall look upon them in the order of the glory, grace and will of the Lord, and as these goods will remain ours, we shall easily enjoy peace on all occasions, even amid the most painful privations.

Thus the souls consoled themselves when tried by humiliations, sickness, destitution and adversity. How great resources would not be ours, if, like them, we loved above all things God, our Father, and His infinitely precious interests! Would vanity then have any power over us, could confusion worry us, if all our desires were concentrated in the sole wish to glorify the Lord, our God? What reverses, afflictions, human disgrace, spiritual dryness, could cast us down, if we knew how to appreciate and love the inestimable wealth and happiness contained in sanctifying grace, which is God's life, love and reign in us? Would we so easily fly into a passion in our trials, if God's holy will were the sole object of our thoughts and affections? "He who seeks to submit to God in all things," says St. Vincent de Paul, "is sure that all that will be done and said against him, will always turn to his advantage, "for conformity to the divine will changes evil into good, or draws good out of evil.

My God and my Father, after the example of Thy divine Son Jesus and of Mary, Thy beloved Daughter, I will strive to glorify Thy divine name, to cause Thee to reign in men's souls, and punctually to fulfill all my obligations of obeying and submitting to Thee. Help me to resolve sincerely, first, carefully to avoid deliberate faults and intentions not wholly upright; secondly, to stifle in my heart every affection foreign to Thy love; and thirdly, to combat the repugnance of my self-will, so that I may fulfill Thy good pleasure in all the details of my conduct.