August/September
2009 - Vol. 32
On
the Lord's Prayer
From
a sermon by Gregory of Nyssa, 4th century
Our Father
Anyone with a bit of good sense would not make so bold as to call
God by the name of Father until he had come to be like him.
It is impossible for God who is goodness in his very being to
be father to someone of evil will. It is impossible for the Holy One to
be father of a depraved person. It is impossible for the Giver of life
to have as a child one whose sin has subjected him to death.
So if one of us, in examining himself, discovers that his conscience
is covered in mud and needs to be cleansed, he cannot allow himself such
familiarity with God. First he must be purified.
Then why, in this prayer of his, does the Lord Jesus teach us
to call God by the name of Father? I suppose that, in suggesting this word,
he is only putting before our eyes the holiest life as the criterion of
our behavior.
[Breviario Patristico © 1971 Piero Gribaudi
Editore, Turin, Italy; translated by Paul Drake]
| Introduction
Sermons
on God the Father
»
I
believe in God the Father, by Augustine of Hippo
»
God
is Father, by Cyril of Jerusalem
»
The
Foundation Stone of the Soul, by Cyril of Jerusalem
Sermons
on the Lord's Prayer
»
Our
Father, by Gregory of Nyssa
»
Who
art in Heaven, by Gregory of Nyssa
»
Hallowed
by thy Name, by Origen
»
Thy
Kingdom Come, by Origen
»
Thy
will be done, by Origen
»
Give
us our daily bread, by Gregory of Nyssa
»
Forgive
us our trespasses, by Cassian
»
And
lead us not into temptation, by Origen
»
But
deliver us from evil, by Cyprian of Carthage |
