Article 1: "The Summary of the Whole Gospel"

Catechism of the Catholic Church · Part Four › Section Two · Article 1 (§§2761–2776)

Paragraphs · 16

The Catechism's text is under copyright, so each paragraph is quoted briefly here with a link to the full text at vatican.va.

§2761 — The Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel." "Since the Lord . . after handing over the practice of prayer, said elsewhere, 'Ask and you will receive,' and since everyone has petitions which are peculiar to his circumstances, the regular and appropriate…vatican.va

§2762 — After showing how the psalms are the principal food of Christian prayer and flow together in the petitions of the Our Father, St. Augustine concludes:vatican.va
§2763 — All the Scriptures - the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms - are fulfilled in Christ. The Gospel is this "Good News." Its first proclamation is summarized by St.vatican.va
§2764 — The Sermon on the Mount is teaching for life, the Our Father is a prayer; but in both the one and the other the Spirit of the Lord gives new form to our desires, those inner movements that animate our lives.vatican.va

§2765 — The traditional expression "the Lord's Prayer" - oratio Dominica - means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus.vatican.va
§2766 — But Jesus does not give us a formula to repeat mechanically. As in every vocal prayer, it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God to pray to their Father.vatican.va

§2767 — This indivisible gift of the Lord's words and of the Holy Spirit who gives life to them in the hearts of believers has been received and lived by the Church from the beginning.vatican.va
§2768 — According to the apostolic tradition, the Lord's Prayer is essentially rooted in liturgical prayer:vatican.va
§2769 — In Baptism and Confirmation, the handing on (traditio) of the Lord's Prayer signifies new birth into the divine life. Since Christian prayer is our speaking to God with the very word of God, those who are "born anew".vatican.va
§2770 — In the Eucharistic liturgy the Lord's Prayer appears as the prayer of the whole Church and there reveals its full meaning and efficacy. Placed between the anaphora (the Eucharistic prayer) and the communion, the Lord's Prayer sums up on the one hand all the petitions…vatican.va
§2771 — In the Eucharist, the Lord's Prayer also reveals the eschatological character of its petitions. It is the proper prayer of "the end-time," the time of salvation that began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will be fulfilled with the Lord's return.vatican.va
§2772 — From this unshakeable faith springs forth the hope that sustains each of the seven petitions, which express the groanings of the present age, this time of patience and expectation during which "it does not yet appear what we shall be."vatican.va

§2773 — In response to his disciples' request "Lord, teach us to pray" (Lk 11:1), Jesus entrusts them with the fundamental Christian prayer, the Our Father.vatican.va
§2774 — "The Lord's Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel," The "most perfect of prayers." It is at the center of the Scriptures.vatican.va
§2775 — It is called "the Lord's Prayer" because it comes to us from the Lord Jesus, the master and model of our prayer.vatican.va
§2776 — The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of the major hours of the Divine Office and of the sacraments of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.vatican.va