Why the Lord's Prayer is so important to us

The focus of this Catholic News podcast is the Year of Jubilee in 2025, and the preparation year proceeding it that we're currently living - the Year of Prayer.

Pope Francis wants the Church to be prepared for the Jubilee Year with a particular focus on prayer, and what better prayer to use than the 'Our Father' that Jesus taught us.

During Lent, we are offering a five-week course designed to help us deepen our understanding of the Lord's Prayer called We Dare To Say.

Father Jan Nowotnik, Director of Mission for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales talks to us about how important a prayer the Lord's Prayer is to us as Christians:

"There is a line in the Our Father that is a prayer of petition, 'Give us this day our daily bread'. When I pray that line, I'm saying, 'Give me today, Lord, just what I need - just for this day'. In the midst of some of the trials and tribulations of life, but also the joys, it's about realising that I put my hope in the Lord who gives me everything that I need - the Lord whose kingdom is in heaven.

"'Give us this day our daily bread'. Why? So that we can joyfully trust and hope in Him, but also so that we can forgive each other, so that we can put right some of those wrongs. Which takes us back to the major theme of a Jubilee year taken from the book of Leviticus - allowing the land to grow fallow, allowing that time of tranquilly and peace, so that we can rid each other of the debts that often occur when we don't forgive each other, when we're not kind and supportive to each other. To do that, you have to hope in the promises of the Lord - 'Give us this day our daily bread'."

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