This morning's General Audience began at 9:20am (3:20am EST) in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims ad the faithful from Italy and from all corners of the world.
In his speech, the Pope continued the cycle of catechesis on the Our Father, adding his meditation on the theme: Abba, Father! (from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans 8:14-16).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. Then, he issued an appeal on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which will begin on Friday, 18 February 2019.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Continuing the catecheses on the Our Father, today we begin with the observation that, in the New Testament, all prayer seems to be aimed at the essentials, even to the point of concentrating on one word: Abbà, Father.
We have listened to what Saint Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans: "You did not receive the spirit of a slave so that you should fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit that makes you adoptive sons, through whom we cry out: 'Abba! Father!' (Rom 8.15). And to the Galatians, the Apostle says: And you are sons; this fact proves that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, who cries out: 'Abba! Father!' (Gal 4,6). The same invocation returns twice, a refrain which condenses all the news of the Gospel. After having known Jesus and listening to his preaching, the Christian no longer considers God as a tyrant to be feared, he no longer fears Him but rather, he feels his trust in Him flourish: he can speak to the Creator calling Him Father. This expression is so important for Christians that it has often been kept intact in its original form: Abbà.
It is rare that in the New Testament Aramaic expressions are not translated into Greek. We must imagine that in these Aramaic words the voice of Jesus himself remained as if it had been recorded: they respected the language of Jesus. In the first word of the Our Father we immediately find the radical novelty of Christian prayer.
It is not just a question of using a symbol - in this case, the figure of the father - to be linked to the mystery of God; instead it is about having - so to speak - the whole world of Jesus poured into one's heart. If we carry out this operation, we can truly pray the Our Father. Saying Abbà is something much more intimate, and more moving than simply calling God Father. This is why someone has proposed to translate this original Aramaic word Abbà with the word Papa or Babbo. Instead of saying Our Father, say Daddy, Father. We continue to say Our Father, but in our hearts we are invited to say Dad, to have a relationship with God like that of a child with his father, who says dad and says father. In fact, these expressions evoke love, warmth, something that projects us in the context of childhood: the image of a child completely enveloped by the embrace of a father who feels infinite tenderness for him. And for this reason, dear brothers and sisters, in order to pray well, we must have a child's heart. Not a sufficient heart: so you can not pray well. Like a child in the arms of his father, his papa, his babbo.
But surely it is the Gospels that introduce us better to the sense of this word. What does this word mean for Jesus? The Our Father takes on more meaning and colour if we learn to pray to him after having read - for example - the parable of the merciful father in the 15th chapter of Saint Luke's gospel (cf Lk 15: 11-32). Imagine this prayer pronounced by the prodigal son, after experiencing the embrace of his father who had waited a long time, a father who does not remember the offensive words that he had told him, a father who now makes him understand just how much he is missed. Then we discover how those words come to life, they gain strength. And we ask ourselves: is it possible that You, our God, only know love? You do not know hatred? No - God would answer - I only know love. Where, in you, is there revenge, the claim of justice, anger for your wounded honour? And God would answer: I only know love.
The father in that parable has in his ways of doing things that is very reminiscent of a mother's soul. It is especially the mothers who tend to excuse their children, cover for them, who never stop offering empathy, who continue to love, even when their children no longer deserve anything.
It is enough to evoke this single expression - Abbà - in order to develop a Christian prayer. And Saint Paul, in his letters, follows this same path, and it could not be otherwise, because it is the path taught by Jesus: in this invocation there is a force that attracts all the rest of the prayer.
God is looking for you, even if you are not seeking Him. God loves you, even if you have forgotten Him. God sees beauty in you, even if you think you have squandered all your talents in vain. God is not only a father, he is like a mother who never ceases to love her child. On the other hand, there is a gestation that lasts forever, well beyond the nine months of the physical gestation; it is a gestation that generates an infinite circuit of love.
For a Christian, in order to pray, it is enough to simply say Abba, to say Papa, to say Babbo, to say Father but with the trust of a child.
It may be that we too happen to walk paths that are far from God, as was the case with the prodigal son; or to fall into loneliness that makes us feel abandoned in the world; or, again, to be wrong and to be paralyzed by a sense of guilt. In those difficult moments, we can still find the strength to pray, starting with the word Father, but said with the tender sense of a child: Abbà, Papa. He will not hide his face from us. Remember this well: maybe someone has bad things inside him, things he does not know how to solve, so much bitterness for having done this and that ... our Father will not hide his face. He will not close himself off in silence. You call out to him - Father - and He will answer you. You have a father. Yes, but I am a delinquent ... But you have a father who loves you! Call out to him - Father -, we can begin to pray like that, and in silence he will tell us that he never lost sight of us. But, Father, I have done this ... - I never lost sight of you, I saw everything. But I was always there, close to you, faithful to my love for you. That will be the answer. Never forget to say Father. Thank you.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and His Holiness offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially the groups coming from Korea and the United States of America. In the context of the forthcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I offer a special greeting to the group from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute. My cordial greeting also goes to the priest alumni of the Pontifical North American College. Upon all of you I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!
At the conclusion of the General Audience, the Holy Father offered the following appeal:
Next Friday, with the celebration of Vespers inside the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, we will begin the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which has as its theme: Justice and only justice you shall pursue. Also this year we are called to pray, so that all Christians will return to being one family, coherent with the divine will that wants that they may all be one (Jn 17:21). Ecumenism is not optional. The intention will be to develop a common and consistent witness in the affirmation of true justice and in support of the weak, through concrete, appropriate and effective responses.
In his speech, the Pope continued the cycle of catechesis on the Our Father, adding his meditation on the theme: Abba, Father! (from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans 8:14-16).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. Then, he issued an appeal on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which will begin on Friday, 18 February 2019.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Continuing the catecheses on the Our Father, today we begin with the observation that, in the New Testament, all prayer seems to be aimed at the essentials, even to the point of concentrating on one word: Abbà, Father.
We have listened to what Saint Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans: "You did not receive the spirit of a slave so that you should fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit that makes you adoptive sons, through whom we cry out: 'Abba! Father!' (Rom 8.15). And to the Galatians, the Apostle says: And you are sons; this fact proves that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, who cries out: 'Abba! Father!' (Gal 4,6). The same invocation returns twice, a refrain which condenses all the news of the Gospel. After having known Jesus and listening to his preaching, the Christian no longer considers God as a tyrant to be feared, he no longer fears Him but rather, he feels his trust in Him flourish: he can speak to the Creator calling Him Father. This expression is so important for Christians that it has often been kept intact in its original form: Abbà.
It is rare that in the New Testament Aramaic expressions are not translated into Greek. We must imagine that in these Aramaic words the voice of Jesus himself remained as if it had been recorded: they respected the language of Jesus. In the first word of the Our Father we immediately find the radical novelty of Christian prayer.
It is not just a question of using a symbol - in this case, the figure of the father - to be linked to the mystery of God; instead it is about having - so to speak - the whole world of Jesus poured into one's heart. If we carry out this operation, we can truly pray the Our Father. Saying Abbà is something much more intimate, and more moving than simply calling God Father. This is why someone has proposed to translate this original Aramaic word Abbà with the word Papa or Babbo. Instead of saying Our Father, say Daddy, Father. We continue to say Our Father, but in our hearts we are invited to say Dad, to have a relationship with God like that of a child with his father, who says dad and says father. In fact, these expressions evoke love, warmth, something that projects us in the context of childhood: the image of a child completely enveloped by the embrace of a father who feels infinite tenderness for him. And for this reason, dear brothers and sisters, in order to pray well, we must have a child's heart. Not a sufficient heart: so you can not pray well. Like a child in the arms of his father, his papa, his babbo.
But surely it is the Gospels that introduce us better to the sense of this word. What does this word mean for Jesus? The Our Father takes on more meaning and colour if we learn to pray to him after having read - for example - the parable of the merciful father in the 15th chapter of Saint Luke's gospel (cf Lk 15: 11-32). Imagine this prayer pronounced by the prodigal son, after experiencing the embrace of his father who had waited a long time, a father who does not remember the offensive words that he had told him, a father who now makes him understand just how much he is missed. Then we discover how those words come to life, they gain strength. And we ask ourselves: is it possible that You, our God, only know love? You do not know hatred? No - God would answer - I only know love. Where, in you, is there revenge, the claim of justice, anger for your wounded honour? And God would answer: I only know love.
The father in that parable has in his ways of doing things that is very reminiscent of a mother's soul. It is especially the mothers who tend to excuse their children, cover for them, who never stop offering empathy, who continue to love, even when their children no longer deserve anything.
It is enough to evoke this single expression - Abbà - in order to develop a Christian prayer. And Saint Paul, in his letters, follows this same path, and it could not be otherwise, because it is the path taught by Jesus: in this invocation there is a force that attracts all the rest of the prayer.
God is looking for you, even if you are not seeking Him. God loves you, even if you have forgotten Him. God sees beauty in you, even if you think you have squandered all your talents in vain. God is not only a father, he is like a mother who never ceases to love her child. On the other hand, there is a gestation that lasts forever, well beyond the nine months of the physical gestation; it is a gestation that generates an infinite circuit of love.
For a Christian, in order to pray, it is enough to simply say Abba, to say Papa, to say Babbo, to say Father but with the trust of a child.
It may be that we too happen to walk paths that are far from God, as was the case with the prodigal son; or to fall into loneliness that makes us feel abandoned in the world; or, again, to be wrong and to be paralyzed by a sense of guilt. In those difficult moments, we can still find the strength to pray, starting with the word Father, but said with the tender sense of a child: Abbà, Papa. He will not hide his face from us. Remember this well: maybe someone has bad things inside him, things he does not know how to solve, so much bitterness for having done this and that ... our Father will not hide his face. He will not close himself off in silence. You call out to him - Father - and He will answer you. You have a father. Yes, but I am a delinquent ... But you have a father who loves you! Call out to him - Father -, we can begin to pray like that, and in silence he will tell us that he never lost sight of us. But, Father, I have done this ... - I never lost sight of you, I saw everything. But I was always there, close to you, faithful to my love for you. That will be the answer. Never forget to say Father. Thank you.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and His Holiness offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially the groups coming from Korea and the United States of America. In the context of the forthcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I offer a special greeting to the group from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute. My cordial greeting also goes to the priest alumni of the Pontifical North American College. Upon all of you I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!
At the conclusion of the General Audience, the Holy Father offered the following appeal:
Next Friday, with the celebration of Vespers inside the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, we will begin the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which has as its theme: Justice and only justice you shall pursue. Also this year we are called to pray, so that all Christians will return to being one family, coherent with the divine will that wants that they may all be one (Jn 17:21). Ecumenism is not optional. The intention will be to develop a common and consistent witness in the affirmation of true justice and in support of the weak, through concrete, appropriate and effective responses.
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