Pater Noster Church, Jerusalem |
A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 9th October 2024 based on the text of Luke 11.1-4
There’s
a church on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem that’s now called Pater Noster -
or ‘Our Father’. It’s built on top of a cave which, since the time of the
crusades, has been known as that ‘certain place’ where Jesus taught the
disciples to pray - where the Lord’s Prayer was first spoken. A connection that
is probably more to do with cashing in on the pilgrim trade than any historical
reality! But it’s still worth a visit if circumstances ever permit, to see the
panels of ceramic tiles that adorn the walls of the church and its cloisters.
Installed nearly two thousand years after Christ first spoke them, they show
the words of the Lord’s Prayer in over 140 different languages. A reminder
that this prayer is spoken across the world and through the ages.
Since the days of the
early church, The Lord’s Prayer has been said when Christians gather and begin to worship
together. A tradition Cranmer maintained when he compiled the Book of Common
Prayer and which we continue here today.
It’s also a prayer we
say individually. It’s woven into the fabric of each of our lives.
Perhaps you have a
distinct memory of saying The Lord’s Prayer on your own. What were the
circumstances? Maybe it was a time of great stress, uncertainty and anxiety,
before an exam or after a difficult situation at work or in a personal
relationship. Perhaps someone close to you was in the final moments of their
life on earth - or maybe you said the prayer in celebration of a new life? Was
it a time when you couldn’t find the words to say - or when there were so many words floating around in your mind that only those which Jesus taught us seemed the right ones?
Or perhaps you don’t
have a distinct memory of saying the Lord’s Prayer at one particular time in
your life - because you say it so often!
Some call it a Pattern
Prayer - a model for all others - a template for how to communicate with God.
It acknowledges the
closeness and intimacy as well as the mystery of our relationship with the one
who is our Father in heaven; who is to be hallowed - or set apart - above all
things.
It is a prayer of
adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. A prayer of faith, hope
and love. A prayer to grow as disciples of Christ. Acknowledging what we have
done, what we need now and who we are meant to become - recognising God as the
source of that transformation.
The Lord’s Prayer
addresses the reality of who we are, what God is like, what the world is like
and how it is meant to be. It truly is ‘The Prayer of all Prayers’.
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