Baltimore Catechism No. 4 (of 4) | Page 6

this life, and that we and all men may
attain our eternal salvation, and thus be brought to reign forever with
God in Heaven--the kingdom of His glory. As the Church on earth is
frequently called the kingdom of Christ, and as all the labors of the
Church are directed to the salvation of souls, we pray also in this
petition that the Church may be extended upon earth, that the true
religion may be spread over the whole world, that all men may know
and serve the true God and cheerfully obey His holy laws; that the devil
may have no dominion over them. While saying this petition we may
have it in our minds to pray even for particular ways in which the true
religion can be spread; for example, by praying that the missionaries
may meet with success and all the missions prosper; that priests and
bishops may be ordained to preach the Gospel; that the Church may
overcome all her enemies everywhere, and the true religion triumph.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." In Heaven all the angels
and saints obey God perfectly; they never offend Him; so we pray that

it may be on earth as it is in Heaven, all men doing God's will,
observing His laws and the laws of His Church, and living without sin.
"Give us this day our daily bread." In this petition "bread" means not
merely bread, but everything we need for our daily lives; such as food,
clothing, light, heat, air, and the like; also food for the soul, i.e., grace.
If a beggar told you that he had not tasted bread for the whole day, you
would never think of asking him if he had eaten any cake, because you
would understand by his word bread all kinds of food. We say "daily,"
to teach us not to be greedy or too careful about ourselves, and not to
ask for unnecessary things, but to pray for what we need for our present
wants.
"And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against
us." "Trespasses" means here our sins, our offenses against God. When
we trespass we enter places we should not, or where we are forbidden
to go. So when we sin we go where we should not go, viz., out of the
path of virtue that leads to God, and into the way of vice that leads to
the devil.
"As we forgive them." We take this to mean: we forgive others who
have offended us, and for that reason, God, You should forgive us who
have offended You. Our Lord told a beautiful parable, i.e., a story by
way of illustration, to explain this. (Matt. 18:23). A very rich man had a
servant who owed him a large sum of money. One day the master asked
the servant for the money, and the poor servant had none to give. Now
the law of the country was, that when anyone could not pay his debts,
all that he had could be sold and the money given to the one to whom it
was due, and if that was not sufficient, he and his wife and his children
could be sold as slaves. The servant, knowing this, fell on his knees and
begged his master to be patient with him, and to give him time and he
would pay all. Then his master was moved to pity, granted not only
what he asked, but freed him from the debt altogether. Afterwards
when this servant, who had just been forgiven the large sum, was going
out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a very small
sum of money, and taking hold of him by the throat, demanded
payment. Now, this poor servant, having nothing to give just then,
implored his assailant to be patient with him and he would pay all. But
the hard-hearted servant--though he himself had a little while before
asked and obtained the very same favor from his own master--would

not listen to the request or wait longer, but went and had his fellow
servant cast into prison till he should pay the debt. The other servants,
seeing how unforgiving this man was who had himself been forgiven,
went and told all to their master, and he, being angry at such conduct,
had the unforgiving servant brought back and cast into prison.
"And lead us not into temptation." "Temptation" means a trial to see
whether we will do a thing or not. Here it means a trial made by some
person or thing--the devil, the world, or our own flesh--to see whether
we will sin or not. God does not exactly lead us into temptation; but He
allows us to fall into it. He allows