As Pope Francis called all Christians to pray the Lord's prayer today here is a reflection on the prayer Jesus taught us written by Raymond Friel
Our Father
Our Father
Not a frightening God
But the loving father of all humanity
Who art in heaven
Not far away but very close
Heaven is where we find the presence of God
Hallowed be thy name
We place your name above all other names
We praise you, we honour you, we thank you
Thy kingdom come
May the world look like the kind of place
God wants it to be, just and compassionate
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
We all want different things
But it’s what you want for us and the whole world that matters
Give us this day our daily bread
Give everybody what they need to live, physically and spiritually,
Give us the grace to help them
And forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
If we don’t forgive other people
We won’t be able to feel forgiven
And lead us not into temptation
Protect us from the glamorous path
The world sets before us
But deliver us from evil
Spare us from the terrible things human beings are capable of and help us to stand against evil in our world when we can
Amen.
Let all this be so.