The Christian Faith
This section of the website provides more extended teaching on larger content areas, such as the Creed and the Sacraments. It begins with Introduction·to the Christian Faith. More content will be added in due course.
The section entitled Short Talks comprises stand-alone talks and articles on different aspects of the Christian Faith, including the teaching of Jesus, the seasons of the Church’s Year and Feasts and Festivals.·
Prayer
This section in Holy Faith gives an overview of the different types of prayer and includes a step-by-step explanation of the Lord’s Prayer. It forms part of Introduction to the Christian Faith which was originally written as a three-year Catechism course for children; the style and language reflect this fact.
Introduction to prayer
What prayer is
Most of you will know the story of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp. Whenever he wanted anything, all he had to do was to rub his lamp and a genie appeared who did whatever Aladdin asked him to.
Many people when they pray are like Aladdin. They think that prayer is a kind of magic and that, if they use more or less the right words, God ought to do everything they want. When he seems to take no notice, they complain that he has let them down and they say that they will have no more to do with him.
Thanksgiving in prayer
The Ten Lepers
In Palestine in the time of Jesus there was a disease called leprosy. A person who had this disease was known as a leper. Lepers were not allowed to mix with other people and if anyone happened to get near them, they had to shout out, “Unclean! Unclean!” as a warning to keep away. As no one would employ them, the lepers had to rely on what money people gave them in order to keep themselves alive. They were also forbidden to live in towns or villages, and so used to gather by the road just outside and beg for money from the passers by. If the signs of leprosy disappeared the person had to be examined by priests. If the priests were satisfied that all was well, the person was certified as clean and could mix with other people again.