direct dialogue with him, through the path of filial intimacy. It is a dialogue between a father and his son, of a son with his father. What we ask in the “Our Father” is already fulfilled for us in his Only-begotten Son: the sanctification of the Name, the advent of the Kingdom, the gift of bread, of forgiveness and of delivery from evil. As we ask, we open our hand to receive; to receive the gifts that the Father has shown us in his Son. The prayer that the Lord taught us is the synthesis of every prayer and we address it to the Father, always in communion with our brothers and sisters. Sometimes distractions can occur in prayer, but we often feel the need to stop at the first word, “Father”, and feel that paternity in our heart. Jesus then recounts the parable of the importune friend and Jesus says: “we must persevere in prayer”. My thoughts turn to what children do when they are three-anda-half years old: they begin to ask about things they do not understand. In my country, it is called “the ‘why’ age”, I think it is also the same here. Children begin to look at their father and ask: Why Dad? Why Dad? They ask for explanations. Let us be careful: when the father begins to explain why, they come up with another question without listening to the entire explanation. What is happening? Children feel insecure about many things that they are only partially beginning to understand. They only wish to attract the father’s gaze, and thus the “why, why, why?”. If we pause on the first word of the “Our Father”, we will be doing the same as when we were children: attracting the father’s gaze upon us: saying, “Father, Father” and also asking, “why?”, and he will look at us. Let us ask Mary, woman of prayer to help us pray the “Our Father” in unity with Jesus in order to live the Gospel guided by the Holy Spirit. Angelus Address given by His Holiness Pope Francis on July 28, 2019 https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2019/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20190728.html Picture from thedivinemercy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJZrKaFN8zW/ Picture from https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/time-pray-pope-leo-xiv “Prayer is so important, far greater than we can imagine,” he said. “Age doesn’t matter. It is Jesus who draws near to us. He becomes our guest and invites us to be His witnesses, whether young or not-so-young.” Quote from His Holiness Pope Leo XIV on visit to Home for the Elderly on July 21, 2025; Vatican News: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/ news/2025-07/pope-leo-xiv-visit-old-age-homecastel-gandolfo-gratitude-prayer.html Pope Leo XIV on Prayer
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==