September 12, 2019 by Jesse Lebus
Greetings St. Luke’s, friends and family!
"Above all, the Teacher of peace and Master of unity did not want prayer to be made singly and privately, so that whoever prayed would pray for himself alone. We do not say My Father, who art in heaven or Give me this day my daily bread; nor does each one ask that only his own debt should be forgiven him; nor does he request for himself alone that he may not be led into temptation but delivered from evil. Our prayer is public and common, and when we pray, we pray not for one person but for the whole people, since we, the whole people, are one."
Tomorrow marks the feast of Cyprian, 3rd century Bishop of Carthage who was martyred during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Valerian. In his commentary on the Lord’s Prayer Cyprian notes that the use of the plural, both with pronouns (us) and possessive adjectives (our), is indicative of the nature of our faith: we’re doing this together!
It is the same sentiment expressed by Paul in his letter to the Romans: “...so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”
After these past several days I couldn’t be happier that we are doing this together. From the Sunday School sponsored animal show, to our presence at the WW1 Homecoming Centenary, the Blessing of the Backpacks and the start of Sunday School and Choir, the Welcome Back Picnic - and finally - a wonderful showing at our Wednesday evening Bible Study.
We are definitely a people seeking to grow in unity with God, one another and our neighbors!
I look forward to growing with you!
Fr. Jesse