Vatican City, Jun 7, 2017 / 03:43 am
On Wednesday Pope Francis said that one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith is that we have a God we are taught to call 'Father' – a father who never leaves us and who we can call on in prayer at any moment.
"The entire mystery of Christian prayer is summed up here, in this word: to have the courage to call God by the name of Father," the Pope said June 7.
He pointed to Chapter 11 of the Gospel of Luke, in which the evangelist provides a somewhat shortened version of the "Our Father" prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray, and which begins with the simple invocation: "Father."
The fatherhood of God, which Francis called "the source of our hope," formed the basis of his general audience catechesis. Addressing crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope immediately recalled the parable of the "merciful father," also known as the Prodigal Son.