Every two years or so, Mary and I visit with the churches of the diocese of Central Florida. This is our home diocese and it has been our primary support since we have doing this ministry in 2013. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the prayers and love of the good people of this community. Besides preaching and sharing about the things we learn and do in the streets of São Paulo, it is also a time of personal reflection for us. It is easy to be absorbed into a ministry without taking time to step back and reflect. This is perhaps something easily overlooked but it is the essential part of everything we do. Reflection is just allowing ourselves to rise above the situation and observe what we have learned about the Truth. It is not an objective observation. I personally don’t believe that we are able to have an objective reading of any situation. In order to understand and appreciate the gospel, we have put our hearts and souls into it. Therefore, we cannot be detached from something in order to be objective. We don’t want to be detached from our homeless youth. We want to be part of their lives and we open ourselves to allow them to become part of our lives. Therefore, our reflection includes all our interactions with them and how these have helped us delve deeper into the profound wisdom revealed through the Person of Jesus. The challenge is how to put all of this into words which communicate in a clear and precise manner to people who have loved and supported us all these years.

I am also confronted with another challenge. I find it hard to just speak solely about our ministry from the pulpit. This stems from a personal conviction inculcated in me from a very young age that the pulpit is a place to proclaim the gospel. Although some might argue in our defense and say that what we do is the proclamation of the gospel. As convincing as it might be, I am too ingrained in my personal conviction to budge from it. I also find it difficult to reconcile with the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount;

“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.” Matthew 6:2

Maybe I am reading this wrongly but I don’t want to use the pulpit to blow my own trumpet. Nevertheless, we have learned valuable lessons about the gospel which are beneficial and edifying to share with others especially for those who participate in our ministry through prayer. Therefore, this is the very reason why I decided to focus our reflections in the following weeks on prayer, more specifically the Lord’s Prayer. After all, prayer has been the only constant link between us and the people who live thousands of miles away from the reality of our homeless children and youth. Through prayer, many have kept their interest in this ministry. It has helped us to find our source and strength in continuing in this work without suffering “burnout”, a common ailment of our time.

There can never be a better prayer than the Lord’s Prayer to use as the basis of our reflection. In a way, it was this prayer which helped me make the decision to dedicate ourselves to this ministry. It opened my eyes to see the opportunity that the Holy Spirit placed before us; to become part of the community God is forming among the homeless children and youth. We have become a unusual family which only Heavenly Father can create.

In the Anglican tradition, we pray the Lord’s prayer every time we approach the Lord’s table. It is the prayer which gives the courage to receive the Holy Sacraments of Bread and Wine as one people. It is a prayer which overcomes all barriers. Besides, there is nothing in the prayer which is offensive to people of any religion. It speaks universally to all of us of the divine love and the human condition.

In the following weeks, I will post a series of reflections on the Lord’s Prayer. I will divide the Lord’s Prayer into five sections. The purpose is to share the knowledge and wisdom we have learned through our ministry with the homeless youth. In a way, every Christian ministry is an attempt to live out the Lord’s prayer. In reality, this is the purpose of prayer. It is to help us have a focus before we set out to live out our faith in the world. My hope is that our reflections will help you in your reflection in the things you seek to do in your community wherever you live. We hope that our ongoing understanding of the gospel can enrich your reading and understanding of the gospel. As always, your comments and reflections are always welcomed and they always encourage us. God bless.