The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Extraordinary Time
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
Emphasis mine: Luke 11:1-4
I pray you know that there are two Our Fathers. The most popular is the Our Father, written by St. Matthew; the second and least known is the Our Father, written by St. Luke, which is in our Gospel today.
I prefer St. Mathews version, but I have a problem. When we were writing A Journey with the Holy Spirit, the line “lead us not into temptation” bothered me.
God doesn’t lead us into temptation!
If God led us into temptation, how could we be held responsible for our sins?
I also firmly believe God does allow difficulties in our lives to draw us closer to them.
I wrestled with “lead us not into temptation” for years.
and
I also had a second question: what does and do not subject us to the final test” mean? I have asked Priests what this meant and am still awaiting a satisfactory answer.
In 2016, Pope Francis and the American Bishops decided St. Matthew’s Our Father had to change.
But,
How could they change it and yet claim the words came from Jesus, which was very important because Jesus was teaching His disciples how to Pray?
The answer was to insert “and do not subject us to the final test” instead of Lead us not into temptation, and we have a prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples.
I believe, Holy Spirit, that these words are a prayer asking that when we are called to jump on the Hallajua train home, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit’s Love, Joy, and Peace.
Saint Peter, legend tells us, was hightailing it out of Rome for fear of being persecuted – satan and to avoid the persecution that was going on in Rome. Peter met Jesus heading into Rome, and Jesus asked Peter if He, Jesus, had to suffer persecution again.
Peter realized his sin, drove his staff into the ground, which grew into a flowering tree, and went back into Rome and told the Romans to Crucify him upside down because he wasn’t worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.
I now pray that when I hop on the Hallajua Train Home, I will be filled with the Holy Spirit’s Love, Joy, and Peace and not be subjected to a final test.
As we reported in a prior blog, Dad, Mom, Gail’s Dad, and her Mother went home to Jesus filled with Peace. Going home to Jesus filled with Peace is not true for everyone.
I would love to say the problem is solved, but it isn’t.
The churches I go to and have gone to still pray the older version; they refuse to change.
How about you?
Are you stiffed-necked, like the Jewish people of the Old Testament, or are you willing to change?
Below is the revised version of the Our Father, copied and pasted from the NABRE, New American Bible Revised Edition, 2016. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approves this Bible.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors;
and do not subject us to the final test,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Emphasis mine Mt 6:9
We suggest three relationship-building prayers this quarter if you want to join and grow in Team Jesus.
- Weeeeeeeee, say this prayer every time you and God interact. For example, weeeeeee made a great meal, Weeeee played a good game of …, Weeeee didn’t handle this very well, etc.
- Thank you, Father; say this all day, every day, for all the Father is doing in your life. If something really good happens, say this multiple times with enthusiasm. When I was told my Basel Cell had disappeared, I said the Thank You prayer at least fifty times as I walked out of the doctor’s office.
- I’m Fantastic; anytime anyone asks how you are, tell them you are Fantastic. I believe you are who you say you are. You have every reason to be Fantastic and no reason not to be. If you can’t think of a reason to be Fantastic, thank God for the difficulty, and God will provide you with the reasons.
Sidebar:
As of today, Wednesday, October 4, The Holy Spirit has not revealed to me what the Holy Spirit wants us to write for the Sidebar. I will leave it blank and pray that you will more fully understand that the Holy Spirit inspires our blog by leaving the Sidebar blank.
Thursday and the Holy Spirit has laid out what the Spirit wants said.
Thank God!
Since the Holy Spirit encouraged me to write our blogs, without the Spirit, I’m dead in the water, and I, yes, I don’t want to stop this ministry.
Golf.
You’ve got to be kidding. The Holy Spirit waited three days to talk about golf.
Yes!
I have found that Religion and Golf are very similar. Just when you think you have mastered it, it falls apart.
This year has not gone well golf-wise.
But
There was a real difference.
OUR, yes, our scores were high, and in some cases higher than I had experienced for the past few years.
The difference was I kept praying through the good shots and games, Weeeeee did well, or on the bad shots and days, Weeeeee didn’t do very well. Through all of the bad shots and days, I emerged smiling, and like when I smile, thanking God for the difficulty of……….. I know you will take care of me; my smile as we played golf kept me in Joy.
Joy, we are having a bad day; only God could change a bad day into a Joyful day with a bad score.
One week ago, the Holy Spirit said before the ninth hole, “Stop talking to yourself about all that I was supposed to do to, and just take the next shot.”
On the ninth hole, we stepped up, mind blank, and hit one of the longest drives I have hit in years; we also pared the hole. It’s one of the first pars in a long time.
As I drove home, I realized satan encouraged me to repeat constantly what I was supposed to do;
Why?
So, I would be frustrated when I didn’t hit the ball correctly. Frustration doesn’t lead to Joy.
Weeeeeee overcame the frustration with the Weeeeeeeee prayer.
Once I realized satan was in my life, I threw satan out. “Get behind me, satan, come Holy Spirit.”
I would love to report the game was back, and we were getting lower scores.
It isn’t!
But now I know what to do to make the game more enJOYable.
Throw out satan!
Stay with the Holy Spirit and play in Peace.
Why are we relating this story?
People have come up to me and say I don’t have any problems because of my relationship with God.
Not true.
Satan attacks me just like satan attacks you, and we have to figure out where the attack is taking place and throw satan out, with the end result being living in the Love, joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit.
Last comment: I am sure you realize how filled with Joy I was to have written the Sidebar on Thursday, and yes, I knew God would take care of me.
Joy!
Picture:
History: on 10/12/23, we ran the first of your pictures. Fall Beauty, NE Alberta, Canada
Picture by Allain C.
We can’t thank you enough for your continued support.
This week’s Picture:
Sunset at Clay Pitts Road Picture by Richard Sawyer
Please keep Snapping!
Several people from foreign countries have asked for my email address, but I am still waiting to hear back. We decided to include my email for your convenience.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments in the Blog.
