Call His Name: Father! Homily on a Prayer of Our Father

My name is Hendrik Ardianto, and I’m from Indonesia. In Indonesian culture, we consider names to be prayers. When parents give a name to their child, they will choose a good and meaningful name for the child. Give an example: Sigit means very kind and Pranoto means caring. Sigit’s parents pray that he be kind and caring. My name is Ardianto. Ardianto means honor/respect. My parent’s hope I become person who honor/respect other people. So, when a parent or someone else calls a person by name, they are praying for them by invoking their name.

In the Hebrew tradition, the names are much more than a reference to a person. The name means the whole character of the person as it is revealed and known to us. Hebel means a breath, or Ismael means God listens. Psalm ^c9:^v10 says: “Those who know thy name put their trust in Him.” So when we call His name in our prayer, it means we put our trust in God. We trust our life in the Lord.

In the Gospel today, The Lord’s Prayer begins with calling God by name: Father. By calling God as Father, Jesus wants us to put our whole life in the Father. Jesus’ prayer covers our present need, past deeds and future trials.

Jesus’ prayer covers present needs. Our present need is bread for the day which we pray for, and to live one day at a time. Certain here, in the Seminary we do not worry about food, shelter, or relationship. Probably the only thing that makes us worry about is homework.

Jesus’ prayer also covers our past deeds. Through this prayer, He taught us about forgiveness of our past sins. God wants to forgive us more than we want to ask for it. More than that, we are not waiting for God, but He is waiting for us. I often wonder imagine what if God doesn’t forgive sinners; does that mean heaven is empty? I think so! Because as human being, we’re all sinners and we need God’s mercy. Don’t worry asking for forgiveness, our sins are not greater than God’s mercy.

Jesus’ prayer covers our future temptation. Temptation means any testing situation. It includes far more than the mere seduction to sin; it covers every situation which is a challenge to and test of a person’s integrity and fidelity. We cannot escape it, but we can meet it with God our Father.

Jesus taught us to pray and call God’s name: Father. A simple prayer that covers our whole life. Someone said that the Lord’s Prayer has two great advantages in our lives. If we use it at the beginning of our devotion, it awakens all kinds of holy desires which lead us to the right pathways of prayer. If we pray it at the end of our prayer, then it sums up all we ought to pray for in the presence of God. In either case, we call his name: Father!