meditation
on
THE LORD'S PRAYER
...from the Holy Rosary Bulletin
I cannot say Our
if my religion has no room for others and their needs.
I cannot say Father
if I do not demonstrate this relationship in my daily living.
I cannot say Who art in Heaven
if all my interests and pursuits are in earthly origins.
I cannot say Hallowed be Thy Name
if I, who am called by His name, am not holy.
I cannot say Thy kingdom come
if I am unwilling to give up my own sovereignty
and accept the righteous reign of God.
I cannot say Thy will be done
if I am unwilling or resentful of having it in my life.
I cannot say on Earth as it is in Heaven
unless I am truly ready to give myself to His service.
I cannot say Give us this day our daily bread
without expending honest effort for it,
or ignoring the genuine needs of my neighbours.
I cannot say Forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us
if I continue to harbour a grudge against anyone.
I cannot say Lead us not into temptation
if I deliberately choose to remain in a situation
where I am likely to be in temptation.
I cannot say but deliver us from evil
if I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual realm
with the weapons of word and prayer.
I cannot say for Thine is the kingdom
if I fear what my neighbours may say or do.
I cannot say and the glory
if I first seek my own glory.
I cannot say and the power
if in my heart I fear what that power represents.
I cannot say forever and ever.
if I am anxious about this day’s affairs.
I cannot say Amen
unless I honestly believe,
Cost what it may, this is my prayer.
Cost what it may, this is my prayer.
Pietà
Fills now my cup, and past thought
is my fulness thereof. I harden as a stone
sets hard at its heart.
Hard that I am, I know this alone:
that thou didst grow—
— — — — — and grow,
to outgrow,
as too great pain,
my heart’s reach utterly.
Now liest thou my womb athwart,
now can I not to thee again
give birth.
Rainer Maria Rilke
(1875-1926)
