The Lord’s Prayer – Meditation
Who art in Heaven – The abode, the dwelling place of the One in whom I believe, but can hardly begin to conceive; who exists not only in a place which I hope to achieve, but is also with me and all His creations in every time.
Hallowed be thy name – In early times, the name of the Most High was considered so holy that mere men did not feel worthy to put voice to His name. The one who, when asked His name, responded; “I Am.”
Thy kingdom come – We pray for the vision God has for us; that we may come to share this holy ideal; that we may have a part in His everlasting kingdom.
Thy will be done – That we overcome our own wants, to accept the wonderful rewards of our Father, who knows best what we really need.
On earth as it is in heaven – That our life now, be a preparation for what awaits us in glorious and everlasting life with our loving God.
Give us this day, our daily bread – As you fed your chosen people with Manna as they wandered in the barren desert, after leaving exile in Egypt. Even though they despaired in You, You provided for them. Remember Christ’s parable of the “loaves and fishes.” Help me to accept your loving gifts, freely given.
And forgive us our trespasses – You sent your only Son, Jesus Christ, to atone on the Cross for our mistreatment of our fellow man. Through such action, we sin against You. You love us so much. Give us the wisdom to accept your love.
As we forgive those who trespass against us – Now that is scary! You mean that we can only ask for forgiveness to the degree that we can forgive others? Lord, give us strength.
And lead us not into temptation – Only the evil one will lead us astray. You show us the way, the truth, and light, our way to eternal life with you.
But deliver us from evil – Help us build a strong wall, against which the devil cannot prevail. We ask that we see the wisdom in living so that we may enjoy eternity with You. May we rejoice in the Resurrection of your Son.
Amen. – So be it. I do believe.
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HAIL MARY ....
We are on a journey of faith. The journey takes us across level green plains or into deep valleys or, sometimes, through dry and empty deserts. Then we turn around or look ahead. You are these. We meet you, we greet you. You are an extraordinary person. In your presence we are reverent, perhaps with heads bowed. But we are also familiar with you. You are, after all, mother and sister and daughter and disciple with us.
FULL OF GRACE ....
An empty cup is filled up, brimming over. Mary, you are the poor one. You stand with hands upturned. God's grace, God's gift, has filled you. Our own emptiness, our aloneness, our neediness take a different shape when we look on you. The moments when we feel that we have little or nothing change into times of possibility. A path is cleared; a way is made for the Lord to journey within us, to fill us. Before you began to be, before we began to be, the richness of the Lord's mercy flowed into his dream for us.
THE LORD IS WITH YOU ....
You wait and carry a child within you. You hold and feed and care for your child. You watch your son preach and heal and suffer and die and rise. He is the presence of God with us, Emmanuel. We do not make the journey alone. We look on you and we sense the presence of God within us, around us, among us, at the beginning of the journey, and at it conclusion.
BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN ....
Mary, you live not by the great things you do but by who you are - hearing the word of God and treasuring it. You live the ordinary course of life in an extraordinary way. So, you are blessed, happy. You turn around our standards for greatness, happiness, and fulfillment. As the poor and lowly servant of the Lord, you are called blessed by all generations. We follow your movement into God, and we must change our plans for greatness and for happiness. Your one great good becomes our one great good - to be with him.
AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB, JESUS ....
The Lord of life is so alive within you that you must give birth to him. You do not simply set him to rest in this world. You hold him up and out. You give the gift of the Blessed One as generously and as freely as he has been given to you. We walk with you. We speak the Word we have heard. We hold and share the Life that fills our hands.
HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF GOD ....
Mary, you are holy. You are the mother of the Lord. Your holiness and our possibility for holiness is sketched in your eyes. They are eyes that wait and watch, eyes that wonder and observe and attend. They are eyes that weep land laugh. Your eyes speak to us of the holiness of God in human ways because they constantly look upon Jesus, who is the Holy One of God and our brother in human flesh.
PRAY FOR US SINNERS ....
We freely ask you to pray for us. How can we not do so? You are with us and among us and toward us. We are sinners, pilgrims on a journey who stumble and fall and struggle and imperfectly make our way. Your son has touched us and healed us and forgiven us. We can never forget or lose the memory of who we are - people in need of his love.
NOW ....
Now is the time of our hoping and struggling. Today we hear his voice. We do not want to harden our hearts or dull his presence. Today is the time and now is the prayer.
AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH. AMEN
Mary, we can journey in our life only if we have the food of hope, only if we have some sense of our destination, only if we believe that we can follow your son in his dying and, then, in his rising. Keep us alive and journeying in the memory that Jesus is Lord. He is the risen one who is our life and
resurrection. Amen.
last revised 07/20/2014 jm
