Living in the moment. Being in the moment. Appreciating fully the significance of what’s happening, be it big or small, is important.  Missed opportunities! Not picking up the signs to make time, spend time with a friend, a relative or an acquaintance crying out in coded language for friendship. These things can hit is suddenly. The journey and the hazards of living that journey.  Because when that person is no longer around, there can be a sudden realisation that those walks in the park, those moments of meeting up for coffee, a bite to eat or visits to an exhibition or gallery, whatever it is, meant something quite more and something deeper.    

So often we can take routine, the everyday things for granted, not fully appreciating why they are part of our routine and daily life in the first place.  That’s why taking time regularly, be it at the end of the day or week to reflect, take stock and give thanks for what we have and the people we share our lives with, is a good thing to do,

Today in our gospel we hear Luke’s version of the ‘Our Father’.  Jesus is answering his disciples request to teach them to pray.  Luke’s version of the ‘Our Father‘ is sparer than Matthew’s.  There are five imperatives: two concerning the holiness of God and the establishment of his Kingdom. The other three asking for necessary provisions: daily bread, forgiveness of sins and freedom from testing. These are major themes running throughout Luke’s gospel.

The ‘Our Father’ is such a simple and powerful prayer that we can lose sight of just how profound and full of depth its meaning truly is.  It is a good idea to just stop regularly and take time to reflect and ponder over its incredible depth of meaning and to ponder slowly each phrase, word even, during an extended time of quiet prayer, 30 minutes maybe. In doing so we can reinvigorate our efforts to apply each phrase, word to our lives. “When you pray, say this…..”