And what, children, is the will of the Lord? The will of the Lord is what God wants to do with all of us, as well as what He wants people to do for Him and for their salvation. With God in heaven, the first executors of His holy will are the Angels: what God tells the Angels to do with people in heaven, they will immediately do on earth. How can we, like the Angels, fulfill the will of the Heavenly Father on earth when God does not command us anything and does not send us anywhere? God conveyed His will to us through Jesus Christ. Everything that Jesus Christ taught people on earth is the will of God - what the Heavenly Father wants all people to do while living on earth for their own happiness and well-being. Have you seen a book in church, which is decorated with velvet and silver or gold, which lies on the holy throne in the altar; when the priest or deacon brings out the book, then all the believers worship it, and sometimes kiss it, kiss it. This book is called the Gospel. This is what is written in the Gospel about the will of the Lord; it says what and how people should do while living on earth.
And so that we can all know God’s will for us, countless Gospels have been printed, and the poor will be given the Gospel for free. In addition, the will of God is explained by priests in the church, and outside the church, for example, in Sunday schools, as I explain to you. This means that we can all know God’s will for us. But it is not enough just to know the will of God, one must learn to fulfill it from childhood, to fulfill it as the Angels fulfill it in heaven - exactly and in due time. And since this is not always easy for us, living among temptations, Jesus Christ taught us to ask Heavenly Father to help us fulfill His holy will. And each of us should pray not for himself alone, but for everyone, so that God will help everyone to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, because the more people on earth who do the will of God, the easier it will be for each of us to do it.
And what, children, happens to people when they do not exactly fulfill the will of Heavenly Father, as you and I often do? Then God can punish us for it; but no matter how He punishes us, we must meekly obey His all-good will, remembering that He knows better than us when to have mercy and when to punish.
So, if God destined us to live in poverty, in orphanhood, let us not be discouraged and grumble at the Heavenly Father, but let us try to fulfill His will, expressed to us in the Holy Gospel, then He will show us His mercy here too and reward us with all earthly blessings. But, living in wealth, in luxury, we must not forget ourselves, but we must always be kind, obedient and remember that it is the will of God not only to give us wealth and honors, but also to take them back from those who forget God. The words of colloquial speech: and on earth, as in heaven, sound like a church: as in heaven and on earth.
What did Jesus Christ teach us to ask Heavenly Father for in the third petition? What is the will of God? Who in heaven does the will of God? How can people know the will of God? Why is it not always easy to do it? Why is it necessary to ask God to help all people live according to His holy will? What happens to those who do not fulfill God's will? How to obey God's will in happiness and misfortune? As they say in church words: on earth as in heaven?
Give us our necessary bread for this day! In these words, Jesus Christ taught us to ask Heavenly Father for the bread we need for existence. Why did Jesus Christ allow us to ask only bread from the Heavenly Father: after all, the whole world with its riches is in the power of the Almighty Ruler of heaven and earth? Perhaps something else is meant here other than the ordinary bread that we eat? Yes; By necessary bread we also mean housing and clothing, without which a person cannot do. How does God give all this to people? God does not serve any of us ready-made bread, but only sends down to earth something from which people can prepare food for themselves, which they consider healthy and tasty, as well as clothing and housing. Why should we ask God for bread every day? But remember, when you ask your father or mother for something, do you really say, for example, like this: give us breakfast and lunch today, and at the same time for tomorrow; or buy us a shirt, jacket and hat so that we won’t have to ask you for anything for a longer time.
If you said that to your father or mother, you would make them angry because your parents care about your well-being. Likewise, the Heavenly Father cares more about us than we do ourselves, and He has everything ready for our well-being; we only need to ask in heartfelt prayer for everything we need for a comfortable life, and He will give us everything in due time. But since a person consists of a body and a soul, which also requires food corresponding to it, then, asking for daily bread for the body, we at the same time must ask God for food for our soul. Food for the soul is the word of God and especially the Body and Blood of Christ, which are given to us in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Behold, children, how much we ask from Heavenly Father in the words of the Lord’s Prayer: give us our necessary bread for this day. In church terms, this request of the Lord’s Prayer sounds like this: Give us this day our daily bread. The word necessary is said in the church language: urgent; for this day, it is said in church - today.
What did Jesus Christ tell us to ask Heavenly Father for in the fourth petition? What is meant by necessary bread? How does God provide people with the bread they need? Why is it necessary to ask God for the necessary bread for only one day? What do we ask God for our souls? How does this petition sound in church? How do you say the word necessary in church? How is this day? Repeat everything you asked Heavenly Father to do in the Lord’s Prayer.
Forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors. This is another thing Jesus Christ told us to ask our Heavenly Father: to forgive us our debts! Do we children owe anything to God? We owed money because we didn’t always live well, we didn’t always do what Heavenly Father told us to do. So know: if you do a bad deed, that is, a sin, you will do a debt to God, because God gave us spiritual strength so that we always use it for good deeds. Jesus Christ called sins debts so that we know: God will certainly exact from us for our sins, just as a judge collects debts from people and punishes faulty debtors; and, knowing this, we would more earnestly ask Heavenly Father to forgive us our sins, while at the same time trying to atone for them with good deeds.
Will Heavenly Father forgive us our sins if we commit them so often? In life, they can forgive us a debt once, and then, if they lend it to us, they will demand payment, and even if not immediately, in parts, they will still have to pay the debt, so that later they can ask again. And we will do the same in relation to our debts to God, when we forgive those who have offended us, our debtors, we will, as it were, little by little pay off that great debt to Heavenly Father, which is our sins. Forgiveness of insults to one's neighbor is so valuable to God that it serves as a measure to forgive us as much as we forgive our debtors. Let us, children, willingly and with all our hearts forgive offenses to our neighbors, remembering that by our forgiveness of offenses we incline Heavenly Father to forgive us countless sins, for which He can punish us, as violators of His holy will, with eternal torment. In church terms, this request of the Lord’s Prayer sounds like this: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
The word forgive in the church is said: leave; as the church says: like; in church it is said to debtors: debtor.
What else did Jesus Christ tell us to ask Heavenly Father for? What debts do we owe to God? Under what condition will Heavenly Father forgive us our debts—our sins? Why is forgiveness of offenses towards our neighbor necessary for us? How does this petition sound in a church way? What words are said differently than in colloquial speech? How are the words said in the church way: forgive, what, to debtors? Repeat everything you asked Heavenly Father to do.