THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

During the third week of Great Lent, by God’s Will, we open the lips of our spiritual mouthpray from the depths of our soul, and say: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  

God’s Will is as holy as His name. It is the source of all good things, visible and invisible. While human beings need time to achieve any of their plans, there is no gap between God’s Will and God’s action. He said: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen 1.3). In the fulfillment of time, the Will was made manifest through the incarnation of the Son as the Saviour of the world. 

God’s Will is almighty and omnipotent.  Just look at creation! The breadth and length, the height and depth (cf. Eph 3. 18) of the universe! We are thrilled to witness His infinite power. 

God’s Will is full of order. The multi-dimensional aspect of creation, from the tiniest cells to the majesty of celestial bodies, denotes Order, harmony, and interdependence. 

With this understanding, let us with awe, pray and say: “Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6.10b).   

This petition invites us to contemplate a fundamental truth. The Heavens, besides being the Throne of God and the abode of the Angels, include also countless galaxies which follow the universally designed order of God’s Will, and as such, serve as a role model to earth, i.e. to humankind.  

But what a misfortune befell humanity, which was disobedient to divine order!  While the Creation at large came into existence by the order of God’s Word, the human being was privileged to be made by the unified decision of the Holy Trinity: “Let us create man in our image and likeness” (Gen 1.26).  Moreover, the breath of the Lord God was exhaled into humanity. And lo! The crown of the Creation, instead of conforming his free will to the eternal Will of the Creator, went astray.  In the words of the Psalmist, while “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps 19.1), in contrast, “man having lost his honor is like the beasts that perish” (Ps 49.20). How deplorable we are. 

This decisive change in roles reminds us of a familiar situation. How distressing it is when the heir of the king fails in his mission, and a servant replaces him as an exemplary model of faithfulness. The same is true in all aspects of our life when the trust invested in high-ranking personnel becomes a disappointment and is replaced by those who were previously regarded as inferiors, but who follow the right path.   

Therefore, let us, who were made in the external image and the internal likeness of God, and are re-created through the sacred blood of the Heavenly Lamb, accept that the Divine Will must direct our earthly will.  Let us open joyfully the sails of our will to the providential breeze of the Holy Spirit who directs us in all good works. Let us unite the universal symphony of that heavenly Declaration, praised by the Psalmist, and glorify Him through our deeds and all virtues vested in us by our Creator. 

On a personal note, whenever I recite this petition, unworthily I add a phrase and say, “Thy will be done on earth and in my own life…”. For I believe that like breathing the air, I desperately need His Will to direct my body, mind and soul, in all their functions, and as a speck of dust on the earth, to be just a note in that universal concert.  

During our journey through the Great Lent, let us pray the twelfth stanza of Catholicos St. Nerses the Graceful’s prayer “In Faith I Confess”: 

“Willer of good, O Lord, fulfiller of the believer’s will, let me not pursue my own will but guide me so that I may, at all times, live according to your benevolent wills. Have mercy upon your creatures and upon me, a great sinner.”