Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
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The miracles of Jesus were the first visible signs that God's
Kingdom had truly come.
There are stories of miracles performed by Jesus even while He was a young child
living in Egypt, but little evidence to support them. There is no doubt, however, that
Jesus performed numerous miracles from the earliest days of His public life in the
Holy Land, starting with the wedding at Cana.
The Apostles were so impressed with Jesus' loving, divinely charismatic
personality, great wisdom and supernatural powers; they wanted to be like Him in
all things. It didn't take them long to realize that Jesus seemed to replenish His
strength through regular sessions of fervent, devout prayer. Soon, they prevailed
upon Jesus to "teach us to pray".
Luke 11:1 And it came to pass that as he was in a certain place praying, when he
ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also
taught his disciples.
Jesus gave us "The Lord's Prayer" so that we might ask God for the
grace to live perfectly, just like His divine Son.
Matthew 6:9 - 13 Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our supersubstantial bread. And forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us
from evil. Amen.
Reading the Lord's Prayer, translated as it is shown above, from Latin, to 17th
century English, it's not difficult to imagine Jesus responding to the unnamed
disciple, "This is what I say when I pray to my Father (and yours). Now, do as I
do."
The Holy Spirit led the disciples to ask Jesus to teach them to pray
and it's the Holy Spirit who continues to inspire and sanctify the
faithful on earth today. Choosing to cooperate with the Spirit, we
proclaim God's Kingdom come.
How do we identify others who are part of God's Kingdom? It's simple!
Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love
one for another.
Galatians 5:22 -23 But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience,
benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity.
Thanks to our Savior, anyone can become a "temple" of the Holy
Spirit; a living, breathing, walking "Kingdom" just by being baptized
in faith, into the Church.
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