‘The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’

Numbers – Chapter 6, Verses 24-26

 
‘Bydded i’r Arglwydd dy fendithio a’th gadw:
Bydded i’r Arglwydd  lewyrchu ei wyneb arnat, a bod yn drugarog wrthyt;
Bydded i’r Arglwydd edrych arnat, a rhoi iti heddwch.’

Numeri – Pennod 6, Adnodau 24-26

This beautiful prayer, known as the Benediction Prayer, is often used at the end of our church services to ask for God’s blessing, help, guidance and peace. It is written as a poem and is thought to be the oldest in the Bible. It is used by both Christian and Jewish people in their worship. It was a prayer undoubtedly very familiar to our Lord Jesus and it is used today in many synagogues throughout the world. It is known as Aaron’s blessing or the Priestly Blessing. In fact, at this time of the year, the Jewish Passover, thousands of Jewish believers gather at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, to hear and receive this blessing, just as they would have done that very first Eastertime, 2,000 years ago.

In our prayer and reflection time today, as we bring our thoughts and concerns before our Lord God, and focus our attention on this prayer, we realise that our God is reaching out to each one of us and values us for ourselves, for who we are.

The photograph above shows a simple message, chalked on our patio, by our young grandson as he called with his mother to leave us essential food supplies on our doorstep, ‘Hope you’re OK, see you during the week, from Charlie.’ Just a few weeks ago we were childminding and doing the school run – now our roles have dramatically and suddenly changed, but that simple message said such a lot. It actually made us feel valued and loved. Even the recent changes in our society, which show we are being supported and protected as the more ’vulnerable age group’, gives us a message that we are valued.

How has your life changed by recent events? Our communities are now focusing not just on who we are, but also what we are doing for each other. Bring before God your feelings today on being valued. ‘To be at peace with ourselves we must know we are unconditionally valued’, writes Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

So, as we continue to share Easter greetings and reflect on Christ’s absolute trust in God the Father through all the events of that first Holy Week, we take time to pray that prayer of blessing so familiar to Jesus – pray for ourselves and others. It may help to hear it sung: the version by John Rutter, (sung many times by our church choir at St. Mary’s Conwy), is available by clicking here.

Their son, Reverend Trystan Owain Hughes, is the vicar at Christ Church in Cardiff.

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Click here for previous daily reflections from our Ministry Team.