As I suggested several weeks ago, acquiring the mind of Christ, I believe, and be helped by reflecting on how He prayed. To this end I have been sharing my thoughts and ideas about the seven petitions that comprise the prayer. This short prayer takes a mere 15-20 seconds to say, yet is filled with incredible meaning. If ever there was a prayer that summarized our faith and what’s expressed in the Gospels, the Our Father is it.

On his reflection on this prayer, St. Cyprian of Carthage, a third century bishop wrote, “My dear friends, the Lord’s Prayer contains many great mysteries of our faith. In these few words there is great spiritual strength, for this summary of divine teaching contains all of our prayers and petitions.” As you reflect on this prayer, you find that it is truly the prayer of a child – son or daughter – of God. It has that very personal and individual sense about it, that is if we pray it with attention and reflection. It is truly one of those prayers that we should not just “rattle off.” I realize that we have to “work” to make the words our own. It is a work that each and every Christian should embrace with all of the heart, mind and soul. It can truly help us to see ourselves as God’s children. We must always remember that this prayer places into our mouths the words that we address to OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.

To truly acquire the mind of Christ we must be determined to see God as our FATHER – ABBA – DADDY. If, however, we did not have a particularly good relationship with our earthly fathers, we might have to work at seeing our Heavenly Father as the loving and kind father who has spared nothing in order to know that He unconditionally love us.

So the OUR FATHER is a beginning in any attempts to put on the mind of Christ. What can we do next in order to help ourselves change into persons who act like and think like Jesus.

The next step is to a very personal assessment of where we are at in becoming like Jesus. It usually means recognizing how we condition our love for others. Are we totally accepting of all others OR do we only selectively accept other – those who think like and act like us. This usually means looking at any stereotypes we might have. These usually develop almost without our awareness. Identification of stereotype is critical.