During his homily on Thursday at Casa Santa Marta, the Pope stressed the importance of the Father in prayer. He said that you can pray to the Virgin, angels or saints, but 'Our Father' is the cornerstone of our prayer life.
POPE FRANCIS
'It's good for us to sometimes examine our own consciences on this point. For me, is God my Father? Do I feel that He is my Father? And if I don't feel that, let me ask the Holy Spirit to teach me to feel that way. And am I able to forget offenses, to forgive, to let go of it, and if not, let us ask the Father: 'these people too are your children, they did something horrible to me â?¦ can you help me to forgive them' Let us carry out this examination of our consciences and it will do us a lot of good, good, good.'
Pope Francis said the prayers are not 'magic words.' Anyone who reads the 'Our Father,' the Pope explained, feels the gaze of the Father over him or her.
EXCERPTS FROM PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'It's good for us to sometimes examine our own consciences on this point. For me, is God my Father? Do I feel that He is my Father? And if I don't feel that, let me ask the Holy Spirit to teach me to feel that way. And am I able to forget offences, to forgive, to let go of it, and if not, let us ask the Father: 'these people too are your children, they did something horrible to me¦ can you help me to forgive them' Let us carry out this examination of our consciences and it will do us a lot of good, good, good. 'Father' and 'our': give us our identity as his children and give us a family to journey with during our lives.'
'Father. It's about feeling our Father looking at me, feeling that this word 'Father' is not a waste of time like the words in the prayers of pagans: it's a call to Him who gave me my identity as his child. This is the dimension of Christian prayer 'Father' and we can pray to all the Saints, the Angels, we can go on processions, pilgrimages¦ all of this is wonderful but we must always begin (our prayers) with 'Father' and be aware that we are his children and that we have a Father who loves us and who knows all our needs. This is that dimension.'
'It's good for us to sometimes examine our own consciences on this point. For me, is God my Father? Do I feel that He is my Father? And if I don't feel that, let me ask the Holy Spirit to teach me to feel that way. And am I able to forget offences, to forgive, to let go of it, and if not, let us ask the Father: 'these people too are your children, they did something horrible to me¦ can you help me to forgive them' Let us carry out this examination of our consciences and it will do us a lot of good, good, good. 'Father' and 'our': give us our identity as his children and give us a family to journey with during our lives.'
