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Lent calendar- 28 February

A young woman praying.

This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10

There are few prayers we say as often as the Lord’s prayer, but it is perhaps sometimes easy to say the words automatically, without thinking about their meaning.

Yet, when we do stop to ponder, it is clear that this is no collection of pious platitudes. It is a truly revolutionary prayer that continues to speak radically to us today. We live, as Jesus lived, in a world with too much hunger, injustice and conflict. We need only watch the daily news to see how necessary the justice, bread, forgiveness and protection invoked by the prayer remain.

There is nothing passive about these words that Jesus gave us. When we pray for the coming of a Kingdom, we are not just reciting a line that demands nothing from us. We are committing ourselves to working for the justice, mercy and love of God’s reign.

As we say this familiar prayer, may we recognise our part in building the kingdom of God.

Lent prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and
lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Amen. 

Act

Turn to God in prayer with this collection inspired by the Our Father.