28 July – Jan Grey – St Laurence’s Catholic Church
Our Father who art in the Sky
The Lord’s Prayer must be said hundreds of millions of times a day by Christians all over the world. Sometimes it becomes ‘routine’ for me, the individual phrases run into one another seamlessly, almost without reflection.
My French O’ Level French results, taken so many decades ago, were undistinguished and my linguistic skills haven’t progressed much since, but when visiting French-speaking Switzerland I manage to follow the Mass there with my fragments of the language, and the familiarity. On the altar steps in one village church are two quite large boards on which the Our Father and Hail Mary are printed, in French of course. My translation of the first phrase is ‘Our Father, who art in the sky’. At first this just made me smile but over time I have been very pleased for that simple change of imagery leading me to take much more notice of the sky above.
Unimpeded by skyscrapers, we are blessed with plenty of sky in this area. From the dark of a moonless night, to the almost white of a powerful summer sun, the palette of reds, oranges and pinks of sunrises and sets, through the blues and greens of clear skies to the variety of the whites and greys of clouds, the colours are of endless variety and depth, and the continually changing patterns various beyond imagination. Despite some light pollution we can see the delicate face of the moon, and we know that there are billions of stars beyond our sight.
The infinite sky surrounds the earth, embraces the earth, engages with everything that we live with, and with us. When the priest says, “which earth has given, and human hands have made”, the wheat and the vine would not be available were it not for the sun and the rain, the latter a continual exchange between the earth and the sky.
So, the French imagery has encouraged me to be aware of our Father with greater wonder; with dynamism, colour, engagement and presence, and for this I am very grateful.
After reading part of a book” Reflections From The Heart of God” by Thomas and Nanette Kinkade, I felt drawn to write something of a response. The article in question was on the topic of forgiveness. We all get things wrong and I, myself, recognise that I require a greater need of Father God’s forgiveness than most, making me less qualified perhaps to comment on this subject!
Everyone, or most people I guess, knows the story of Joseph, made famous firstly by the book of Genesis, from chapter 37 onwards, and secondly by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical, which focuses on his “technicolour dream coat”. Joseph, as we know, hit hard times when his jealous brothers ripped up his coat and threw him into a dry well, planning to leave him there, but then sold him, as a slave, to some passing tradesmen instead. Things may have been difficult for everyone recently but, hopefully, not as bad as that! Joseph must have felt like God had abandoned him. However, as we read about Joseph, we find that he never loses his faith in God even when things seem to go from bad to worse. He later finds himself in an Egyptian prison but this gives him the opportunity to use his skill of interpreting people’s dreams for them. Eventually he interprets the Egyptian Pharoah’s dream and is then made Governor over Egypt. In that position of power and authority he then has the grace and forgiveness required to be reunited with his own family and even save them from famine. Although this is a very extreme example of someone hitting hard times this story teaches us that even when it looks like God has abandoned us in fact, if we put our faith in Him as Joseph did, then His good plans can still come about in our lives. Throughout the difficult times of this pandemic many people have kept their faith in God. Hopefully it is His plan that we will very soon be able to meet together as a Church again. Praise the Lord.
Sheet Church is celebrating being awarded bronze eco-church status! This certificate is awarded by the charity A Rocha, which our church supports financially. Churches of all types, sizes and denominations are taking part throughout the nation, so why not check it out and consider joining in? To find out more about the Ecochurch scheme, the targets that it involves, or to sign your church up, go to 