On the fourth Sunday of Lent, the Elect of the parish, that is, the candidates and catechumens, are prayed over and blessed. I will invite them up into the sanctuary during the praying of the “Our Father” and we will hold hands as we do so as a sign of our unity. This prayer is unique because it is given word for word by Jesus himself when his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. When you look at the overall structure it begins with God’s name, kingdom and will and only then focusing on our human needs.
It has been called the perfect prayer because it seems to be a complete
summary of our faith or relationship with God:
- Praise and worship (“Our Father… hallowed be Thy name”)
- Surrender to God’s will (“Thy will be done”)
- Daily dependence on God (“Give us this day our daily bread”)
- Mercy and forgiveness (“Forgive us… as we forgive…”)
- Guidance and protection from evil (“Deliver us from evil”)
The very first word of the prayer which Jesus gave us proclaims a common identity, that we are all sons and daughters of God, that we have one creator and father of us all. It embodies a shared identity, shared need and shared hope. I am not sure if people realise what a radical statement we make. We proclaim a relationship with God, but just as importantly, we proclaim a relationship with one another. It can be easy to sit in church and rattle off the prayer, being utterly and sincerely focused on God, on the vertical dimension of relationality, but not actually notice the implications for the horizontal dimension of relationality.
The horizontal dimension of relationality is touched on when we ask for God to forgive us, just as we forgive others. After the giving of the prayer Jesus went on to emphasise the importance of forgiveness. Of all the things said by Jesus in his prayer, this is the only phrase that he returns to. It must have been important. Jesus is telling us that community and relationality are impossible to achieve unless we are prepared to offer Grace to one another.
