The doxology

Deliver us from evil” is the last clause in the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus taught it to his disciples.  But by the time St Matthew’s Gospel was written Christians were used to adding to the Lord’s Prayer what is called the Doxology or the Giving of Praise – the words that are so familiar to us, “For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen”.

“Thine is the Kingdom” tells how God is King of Heaven and earth.  “Thine is the power” is a reminder that he is all powerful and can save us.  “Thine is the glory” ends the prayer by giving God praise, just as the words “Hallowed be thy Name” began the prayer by giving God adoration.  So the prayer begins and ends with the honour of God.  Amen, which at the end of the Creed meant “It is so”, here means “May it be so”.

SUMMARY

1. When we sin and obey the Devil, we are drawn away from God.  People who die separated from God, who do not love him or want him and who are not sorry for their sins – these people go to Hell.  People who die in God’s keeping go first to Purgatory and then to Heaven.

2. God is infinitely stronger than the Devil.  If we truly love God, persevere with our prayers, always turn straight back to God when we have sinned, and are faithful and regular in making our Communion, we have nothing to fear.