By Francesca Merlo
The strength and significance of the “Our Father” prayer was at the heart of Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus message on Sunday the 27th of July.
As he addressed the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo reflected on the Gospel of the day, in which Jesus teaches his disciples the Our Father.
“This is the prayer that unites all Christians” said the Pope, reminding us that it is in this prayer that the Lord invites us to address God “as ‘Abba’, ‘Father’, with childlike “simplicity, filial trust… boldness, the certainty of being loved”.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, too, the Pope said, expresses this very well, where it reads that “Thus the Lord’s Prayer reveals us to ourselves at the same time that it reveals the Father to us”.
Pope Leo went on to emphasise how true it is that the more we pray with confidence to the Father, “the more we discover that we are beloved children and the more we come to know the greatness of his love”.
Present at every moment
Turning once again to the day’s Gospel, the Pope recalls that it uses vivid images to describe the characteristics of God’s fatherhood: “that of a man who gets up in the middle of the night to assist a friend in welcoming an unexpected visitor; and that of a parent who is concerned about giving good things to his children”.
These images, the Pope continued, remind us that “God never turns his back on us when we come to him”, no matter the scenario.
He always listens and if he “sometimes responds in ways or at times that are difficult to understand, it is because he acts with wisdom and providence, which are beyond our understanding”. Even in these moments, the Pope insisted, “let us not cease to pray with confidence, for in him we will always find light and strength”.
Pope Leo then reminded those present that when reciting the Our Father, “in addition to celebrating the grace of being children of God, we also express our commitment to responding to this gift by loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ”.
Reflect the goodness of God in your lives
And reflecting on this, the Pope recalled the words of Saint Cyprien of Carthage when he stressed that “when we call God ‘our Father’ we ought to behave as children of God”. Likewise, Saint John Chrysostom said “You cannot call the God of all kindness your Father if you preserve a cruel and inhuman heart”.
“We cannot pray to God as “Father” and then be harsh and insensitive towards others” said the Pope, bringing his discourse to a close. Instead, he added, we must “let ourselves be transformed by his goodness, his patience, his mercy, so that his face may be reflected in ours as in a mirror.
Finally, the Pope invited the faithful to be inspired by the day’s liturgy to feel loved and to love as God loves us: “with openness, discretion, mutual concern, and without deceit”. – Vatican News
