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Our God - Our Lord’s Prayer |
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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. |
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When Moses approached God on Mount Sinai, he heard a voice
saying, "Do not come near; put off your
shoes from your feet, for the place on which
you are standing is holy ground." An
infinite chasm separates us from the
transcendent God.
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus invites us to draw near to God who
is beyond human understanding, who dwells in
mystery, who is all holy. We can call God
"our Father".
Calling God "Father" does not mean that God is masculine. God
is beyond the categories of gender, of
masculine or feminine. None of our
descriptions of God is adequate. God, who
is "in heaven", whose name is holy, cannot
be fully known by us.
By calling God "Father" we are more rightly describing
ourselves and our relationship with God.
Jesus teaches that we have a filial
relationship with God; God sees us as if we
were a daughter or a son. And we, on our
part, can approach God in the familiar
confident way a child approaches a loving
parent. What is more, we approach God
through God's only Son, Jesus Christ, who
unites us to himself . |
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Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven. |
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God's kingdom. Jesus often said that God's power would appear
and renew all creation. God like a mighty
king would rule over the earth according to
a plan that unfolds from the beginning of
the world. God's kingdom would be marked by
peace and justice. Good would be rewarded
and evil punished. The kingdom, according
to Jesus, is not far off, but already
present in our midst, though not yet
revealed.
In the Lord's prayer we pray that God's kingdom come, that
God's will, which is for our good, be done
on earth as it is in heaven. |
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Give us this day our daily bread. |
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We are God's children. What can be more childlike than this
petition in which we pray for our daily
bread, a word that describes all those
physical, human and spiritual gifts we need
to live. With the confidence of children we
say: "Give us this day what we need."
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Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive
those who trespass against us. |
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This petition of the Lord's Prayer is a
demanding one. Not only do we ask God's
forgiveness for our daily offenses, but we
link God's forgiveness of us with our
forgiveness of others. Forgiving others is
not always easy to do. We need God's help
to do it. But it must be done or we
ourselves cannot receive God's mercy. |
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And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. Amen. |
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Life is not easy. It is a daily battle.
Trials like sickness and failure can crush
our spirits. False values and easy promises
can entice us and even destroy our souls.
And so we ask God to keep us from failing
when we are tested, to help us to know the
right thing to do, to deliver us from the
evil awaits us in life. |
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Our Country - Our Pledge of
Allegiance |
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"I pledge allegiance"
(I promise to be
true)
"to the flag"
(to the symbol of
our country)
"of the United States of America"
(each state that has
joined to make our country)
"and to the Republic"
(a republic is a
country where the people choose others to make laws for
them
-- the government is for the people)
"for which it stands,"
(the flag means the
country)
"one Nation"
(a single country)
"under God,"
(the people believe
in a supreme being)
"indivisible,"
(the country cannot
be split into parts)
"with liberty and justice"
(with freedom and
fairness)
"for all."
(for each person in
the country...you and me!)
This pledge says you are promising to be true to the
United States of America!
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Form #11
(Revised 19Jun08 at 01:25) |
