Fr Ben Garren

Dear Siblings in Christ,

We have come to Holy Week where we meditate on the last line of the Lord’s Prayer, our delivery from evil. This comes as we encounter the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the means of our delivery.

This moment is one of extreme love, Jesus entering the space where evil orients, Jesus unjustly on the cross amidst persecution from those in power who have forgotten the love of mercy and the doing of justice. 

Jesus is lifted up on the cross and draws all of us to him in that moment. The reason that Jesus can draw us to him there is because all of us have encountered injustice. All of us have had days where no mercy was provided to us. All of us have participated in injustice. All of us have failed to act with mercy.

Jesus meets our act of injustice and failure to be merciful in the cross by being present with everyone who has experienced a moment without mercy and time without justice.

When we find ourselves on a cross, when we find ourselves persecuted, when we find ourselves in pain… we can remember not only that Jesus is here with us in that moment but that Jesus took up our cross, took up persecution, took up pain so that we can be free of such.

The Lord’s prayer begins by asking us to orient our hearts to Heaven knowing that it is as near as any trusted elder living in our life. It asks us to ground our anxiety as if we have this day our daily bread, our needs just for this day. It asks that we open ourselves up to others finding wholeness and coming to a place of healing, and let go of the barriers that stop us from finding such for ourselves.

This prayer is there to remind us of this whenever we feel lost and in the midst of trial. It is there to let us always remember that we are delivered, that we need not stay on any cross, amidst any abuse, for Jesus has taken all such on himself for our sake. 

May you come to the Lord’s Prayer amidst the Easter Eucharist with a renewed sense of its call for your life.

Pax,

— Ben