We are called to live in trust and intimacy with God, because faith is not a theory to be learned, but a life to be enjoyed.  It is having discovered that God loves you  —he created you out of love—and that he calls you to live a life of friendship with him:  a story of love and salvation. And from love comes trust:  nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God  (cf.  Rom 8:38-39).

A few days ago, Pope Leo invited us to discover that God created us with a purpose and a mission, and that we must take advantage of this opportunity to listen, to pray, so that we may hear more clearly the voice of God calling us in the depths of our hearts. He calls us to know him better and live in his love, to open ourselves, to allow God’s grace to strengthen our faith in Jesus, so that we may share this gift with others.

In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us to pray: to speak to your Father, who loves you, who cares for you.  To pray is to speak to the Father, in a climate of abandonment and trust in Him. That’s why Jesus says:  don’t use many words, like the Gentiles, who imagine that by talking a lot, they will be listened to.

No, what matters is that you open your heart to Him with humility and sincerity, and give Him what is in it : joys, sadness, suffering, needs, wounds, desires, failures, hopes, sins, victories…

The Lord’s Prayer is the disciple’s prayer :  a prayer from heart-to-heart. It is opening your ears and your heart to the Father, who loves you and cares for you. Praise, listen, trust, rest, pray… Asking the Holy Spirit to help us pray, because we do not know how to pray for what is right for us  (cf.  Rom 8:26).  

What does Jesus teach us in the Lord’s Prayer?

Our Father. Calling God Father is a sign of the familiarity, closeness, and love with which we relate to God. Furthermore, he is our Father:  he calls us to live our faith not in a solitary way, but in community, in the Church ; he calls us to live as brothers and sisters. 

Hallowed be thy name.  We express God’s lordship above all else. He is holy, the only holy, and we desire that God’s holiness be known and acknowledged through those of us who confess ourselves to be his disciples.

Thy kingdom come.  We pray for the growth of God’s Kingdom and long for the consummation of the Kingdom with the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Thy will be done.  This is how Jesus prayed in the Garden of Olives, and this is how the Church prays today: It is the manifestation of the desire that God fulfill his will, his plan of salvation, which is always best. And that we collaborate with him.

Give us each day our daily bread.  We ask the Lord for daily sustenance, only what is necessary for life. We do not ask the Lord for security for the future, nor for trust in material things.  Our security and our trust are in the Lord.

Forgive us our sins.  Only God can forgive sins. Therefore, we ask the Lord for forgiveness, beginning by acknowledging ourselves as sinners. Because we too forgive everyone who owes us. We do not buy God’s forgiveness. We merely indicate, with our forgiving attitude toward our neighbor, that we want to receive it. Unable to deserve God’s forgiveness, we ask for it. And we place before the Lord the commitment to forgive our brothers and sisters as well; to be men and women of reconciliation, beginning with those who offend us.

Lead us not into temptation.  The temptation we ask the Lord to free us from, in particular, epitomizes all the others and attacks faith at its root:  doubting God’s love, doubting that God loves you and is acting in your life.

How is your prayer life?  Do you pray every day? How do you pray? How much time do you dedicate to the Lord? The Lord wants to live a love story with you. Take heart! Open yourself to the Lord! Allow yourself to be loved by Him! Tell Him your things, express your desires! The Lord has a wonderful story in store for you. Trust in Him, He will not let you down!

Come, Holy Spirit!