Video Transcript

Edmund: TL;DR: Catholicism 

Personally I love when I see the four letters “TL;DR” because it means someone is going to give me a shortcut; someone is going to give me a summary. You’ve probably seen this on Reddit posts, emails, blog articles; things like that. “If it’s too long so you didn’t read, here’s the brass text.”

So..what about Christianity? What’s the “TL;DR” of Christianity? What’s the summary? Think about it: if you had to pick one “thing,” what would you pick? Would you pick one verse from the Bible? Would it be the Bible? Would it be the Ten Commandments? The Creed? I don’t know..the Catechism? 

Not surprisingly, there are a lot of little “summaries” in our faith. And that’s because we’re finite; we’re limited. We need short summaries to understand anything. Jesus Himself—when He was asked what the greatest Commandment is—He gave two. 

And then He said, “All of the law and the prophets depend on these two Commandments.” So He explained all of the law and the prophets in two Commandments.

But Jesus also gives us another summary that you might not have thought of as a “summary.” And this one’s a prayer. And you should understand this; it changes things. So today, let’s talk about what Jesus is trying to teach us by understanding this prayer as a summary of what it means for you to be Christian.

So for a lot of us, the first “summary” that might come to mind is the Creed. And that makes sense. It’s concise; it’s organized. But it’s interesting that in the New Testament, Jesus never gives us something quite like the Creed that we have today—at least in the form of “We believe…x, y, and z.”. 

But, here’s what is kind of interesting. When asked by the disciples how to pray, Jesus did, however, give a very clear formula that would be easy to memorize. And this is—you guessed it—the Lord’s Prayer. 

And this is really important. Because in a way, the Creed tells us what we believe as followers of Jesus. But the Lord’s Prayer tells you how followers of Jesus live in relation to God the Father. The Creed is a confession of faith. But the Lord’s Prayer is the summary of the practice of discipleship within the Kingdom of God.

The Catechism says this in paragraph 2761: “The Lord’s Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel.” But, it goes deeper than this because Jesus and His relationship with the Father is at the heart of the Lord’s Prayer.

How would it shift your understanding of the faith and your relationship with God if you saw things as summaries; “Too long; didn’t read?” Because nothing we could understand or be given could completely exhaust our understanding of the person of Jesus. Because He’s a person, AND because God is beyond our complete and total understanding.  

Just as in the same way you could never say you fully “understood” a person, or that you finished “learning” about him or her. Jesus—as a person and as God—is a mystery. And by this, we mean that the deeper we go into understanding, the deeper we’re called into relationship. And at every point; as we reflect deeper and deeper on these summaries, we realize there’s more.

But the Catechism isn’t just a summary of everything we believe. It’s an invitation to relationship. 

At the end of the Lord’s Prayer, we sometimes pray what’s called the “final doxology.” The Catechism says this in paragraph 2855: “The final doxology, ‘For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever,’ takes up again, by inclusion, the first three petitions to our Father: the glorification of his name, the coming of his reign, and the power of his saving will.”

God’s kingdom, power, and glory takes up the first three petitions we begin the Lord’s Prayer with. Because this is truly what everything’s about. And this is everything Jesus is about. Jesus is the one Word; the summary of everything God has said to us. But He’s more than just a summary, He’s an invitation to relationship with the Father. He’s a person.

What if every time you came to the end of a prayer, you thought of it as a summary inviting you to go deeper; to reflect deeper on our relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?  

You can start by just praying the Lord’s Prayer at three moments throughout your day. And ask yourself: “Is Jesus calling me to something deeper?”

Because when we come to the end of something we hear; something we pray; something we read—even to the end of these videos—in a way, these are just shorter summaries of a deeper invitation to relationship that you’re called to.

Everything that’s given to us by the Church is a gift; it’s a doorway to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. And by the time we’ve come to the end, we can never fully express that. Really, these are just invitations. Because Jesus is the person that gives life new meaning and new direction. And only He can fully satisfy our restless hearts that long for more.

The Lord’s Prayer is a summary of a relationship with the Father. It’s the summary of the “Good News” of God’s kingdom, power, and glory. So today, if you pray the Lord’s Prayer—or any prayer—and you get to the end and say “Amen,” ask yourself: “Am I living this? Am I loving like this?”

Because the Lord’s Prayer isn’t just a summary. It’s the voice of Jesus – inviting you to more.