Vatican City, Dec 12, 2018 / 04:00 am
Pope Francis gave an Advent reminder Wednesday that faith should not be just a "decorative" addition to daily life by pointing to how the 'Our Father' prayer embodies the essence of life itself.
"Prayer - Jesus teaches us - does not begin in human existence after the stomach is full: rather it lurks wherever there is a man, any man, who is hungry, who cries, who struggles, who suffers and wonders 'why,'" Pope Francis said in the Paul VI hall Dec. 12.
The 'Our Father' prayer's request for "daily bread," the pope explained, exemplifies God's desire to meet man in his concrete reality, in his basic needs.
"Our first prayer, in a sense, was the wail that accompanied the first breath. In that newborn cry, the destiny of our whole life was announced: our continual hunger, our continual thirst, our search for happiness," he continued.