“GIVE US THIS DAY, OUR DAILY BREAD”

Although Lent may be a struggle for us, I am personally very grateful that the Church dedicates this seasons to fasting, alms-giving and PRAYER. A lot of us (and I am guilty of this too!) may not devote enough time to prayer. This is often merely because we forget about it and our work, studies or various other responsibilities seem to take up all of our thought and energy.

Prayer, however, does not need to take up a lot of our time. A very wise monk from Ampleforth Abbey told a group of us Nottingham students that we shouldn’t get hung up about how long we pray for, but rather we should focus on the quality of the prayer. I think this is very true - It’s very easy to say the words of a prayer and by the time you’ve reached the word ‘Amen’ you realise that you haven’t engaged in prayer at all.

In today’s gospel we are presented with the Lord’s prayer. I recommend you read it within the context of the rest of the chapter (Matthew 6). This prayer is of paramount importance, as it was taught to us by Christ. Even if this is the only prayer you say today, let this be ‘quality’ prayer-time and try and focus on the words of the prayer.

After talking to a priest at my home parish about the Lord’s Prayer, I view the prayer in a completely different light. He told me to focus especially on the words “give us this day, our daily bread.” He said that it is important for us, as Christians, to focus on the present. We cannot change the past, and should not focus too strongly on the future, as the present is the only time when we can take action. We are in a continuous relationship with Christ-whether or not we are aware of this. By acknowledging that Christ is in our lives TODAY and with us in the Eucharist we can deepen our faith. Thus we pray:

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. And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

We have daily opportunities to serve God. What good deed will you do TODAY during this season of lent?

Gosia Rejman,

Studying Theology; third year,

CathSoc President at Nottingham University.