2 February 2025
Who Art in Heaven
Who is the King of Glory; it is the Lord! - Ps 24:7
This phrase is one which in some ways requires no explanation, of course God is in heaven where else would he be! Yet, this idea of God being in heaven can lead us to think He is far away, distant. The Church understands this phrase as a statement of God’s majesty not distance, “Behold the heavens, and the highest heavens cannot contain you,” says King David (1 Kgs 8:27). Our Father is one who “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16), how glorious is our God (Dt 32:3)!
How amazing it is then that our God, in all His majesty, dwells in our hearts! St. Augustine says, "Our Father who art in heaven is rightly understood to mean that God is in the hearts of the just, as in his holy temple.” We Christians are called “Temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19), and so God is at home in the hearts of His faithful. That he dwells in each of us is what the Church means by being in a state of grace - to have God himself present in our souls. When we pray this line of the Our Father we are asking to remain in the state of grace, to have our Lord dwell within us.
This indwelling of God is the foundation of prayer. Pope Benedict XVI describes the value of seeking God in the silence of our souls, he says, “silence can carve out an inner space in our very depths to enable God to dwell there, so that his word will remain within us and love for him take root in our minds and hearts and inspire our life." By seeking God’s heavenly presence in our hearts our lives change. St. Teresa of Avila urges us never to forget that our souls are like castles in which the great King resides. She says, “Never forget that God dwells within your little castle (your soul). If I had understood as I do now that in this little palace of my soul dwelt so great a King, I would not have left Him alone so often.”
As we say this line of the Our Father we are reminded that heaven is our true home. As St. Paul tells us: “For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). While we journey through the world, we are called to live as citizens of heaven - people whose lives reflect the values and hope of eternity. When we get too caught up in the cares and anxieties of the day, we can take consolation in the fact that we are pilgrims passing through on our way to our true home (1 Pt 2:11). An early Christian text proclaims, “[Christians] are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their lives on earth, but are citizens of heaven.” We already have a foothold in heaven through Christ and live with the hope of fully joining Him. Let us live in light of the beautiful truth as we pray the Our Father.
A brief word on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord which we celebrate this Sunday; for those who have yet to take down their decorations, you are in good company, this feast marks the traditional tail end of the Christmas season. On this feast we recall the humility, obedience and poverty of the Holy Family. In this feast we recall the words of Simeon who said on this occasion,“my own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”(Lk 2:30-32)
- Fr. Mike Tabernero
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1St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. in monte 2, 5, 18: PL 34, 1277. CCC 2794
2Benedict XVI, General Audience, 7 March 2012.
3Theresa of Avila, Way of Perfection, (New York, Dover, 2012), 188.
4Ad Diognetum 5: PG 2, 1173. CCC 2796.