(Vatican Radio) To pray the Our Father we have to have a heart at peace with our brothers.
We don't pray "my Father," but "our Father," because "we are not an only child, none
of us are”. This was the focus of Pope Francis' homily at Mass Thursday morning in
Casa Santa Marta. The Pope emphasized that we believe in a God who is a Father, who
is "very close" to us, who is not anonymous, not "a cosmic God."
Prayer is
not magic, rather it is entrusting ourselves to the Father’s embrace. Pope Francis
centered his homily on the prayer of the "Our Father" taught by Jesus to His disciples,
of which the Gospel speaks today. Jesus, he said, immediately gives us a piece of
advice in prayer: "In praying, do not babble", do not make "worldly noises, vain noises”.
And he warned that "prayer is not a magical thing, there is no magic with prayer."
Someone once told me that when he went to a "witch doctor" they said a lot of words
to heal him. But that "is pagan." Jesus teaches us, "we should not turn to Him with
so many words," because "He knows everything." He adds, the first word is "Father,"
this "is the key of prayer." "Without saying, without feeling, that word – he warned
- you cannot pray":
"To whom do I pray? To the Almighty God? He is too far
off. Ah, I can’t hear Him. Neither did Jesus. To whom do I pray? To a cosmic God?
That’s quite normal these days, is it not? ... praying to the cosmic God, right? This
polytheistic model that comes from a rather light culture ... You must pray
to the Father! It is a strong word, 'Father '. You must pray to Him who generated
you, who gave you life. Not to everyone: everyone is too anonymous. To you. To me.
To the person who accompanies you on your journey: He knows all about your life. Everything:
what is good and what is not so good. He knows everything. If we do not start the
prayer with this word, not just with our lips but with our hearts, we cannot pray
in a Christian language".
"Father," he reiterated, "is a strong word"
but "opens the door". At the time of sacrifice, the Pope said, Isaac realized that
"something was wrong" because "he was missing a sheep," but he trusted his father
and “confided his worries to his father’s heart" . "Father" is the word that "the
son" who left with his legacy "and then wanted to return home" thought of. And that
father "sees him come and goes running" to him, "he threw himself in his arms", "to
cover him with love." "Father, I have sinned:" this is, the Pope said, "the key of
every prayer, to feel loved by a father":
"We have a Father. Very
close to us, eh! Who embraces us ... All these worries, concerns that we have, let's
leave them to the Father, He knows what we need. But, Father, what? My father?
No: Our Father! Because I am not an only child, none of us are, and if I cannot
be a brother, I can hardly become a child of the Father, because He is a Father to
all. Mine, sure, but also of others, of my brothers. And if I am not
at peace with my brothers, I cannot say 'Father' to Him."
This, he added,
explains the fact that Jesus, after having taught us the Our Father, stresses that
if we do not forgive others, neither will the Father forgive us our sins. "It's so
hard to forgive others – said the Pope - it is really difficult, because we always
have that regret inside." We think, "You did this to me, you wait '... and I’ll repay
him the favour ":
"No, you cannot pray with enemies in your heart,
with brothers and enemies in your heart, you cannot pray. This is difficult, yes,
it is difficult, not easy. 'Father, I cannot say Father, I cannot'. It’s
true, I understand. 'I cannot say our, because he did this to me and this ...' I
cannot! 'They must go to hell, right? I will have nothing to do with them'.
It’s true, it is not easy. But Jesus has promised us the Holy Spirit: it is
He who teaches us, from within, from the heart, how to say 'Father' and how to say
'our'. Today we ask the Holy Spirit to teach us to say 'Father' and to be able to
say 'our', and thus make peace with all our enemies. "