A Summary of the Gospels
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
Summarizing the Gospels (2761)
"The Lord's prayer is truly the summary of the whole Gospel. Since everyone has petitions peculiar to his circumstances, the Lord's prayer is said first (before other petitions) as the foundation of further desires" (Tertullian).
At the Heart of the Scriptures (2762-2763)
"I do not think you will find any holy prayer in Scripture that is not contained and included in the Lord's Prayer" (St. Augustine).
The Good News summarized in the Sermon on the Mount, and this prayer to the Father are at the heart of the Gospel proclamation. "The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers. In it we ask for things in the sequence that they should be desired. It teaches us what to ask for and in what order we should desire them" (St. Thomas Aquinas).
The Sermon on the Mount (2764)
In both the teaching (The Sermon on the Mount) and in the prayer (The Our Father), Jesus gives new forms to our desires. Jesus teaches by his words and then shows us how to ask in prayer. The rightness of our life in Jesus depends on the rightness of our prayer.
Meaning of "Lord's Prayer" (2765-2766)
The expression "The Lord's Prayer" means that Jesus gave us the words that he received from the Father. As Word Incarnate, Jesus knows the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us.
Jesus does not give us a mere formula. He gives us the Spirit, by whom these words become "spirit and life." "The Father searches our hearts and the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God's will" (Rom 9:27).
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