SAINT ISIDORE (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

For the Father himself loves you. 

At every Mass, the priest introduces the Our Father by noting that we can “dare” to offer this prayer because Jesus himself has instructed us to. It is, after all, a little bold to address the Creator of the entire universe in such personal, intimate terms! But that’s exactly what Jesus told us: God’s love for us is as strong as the love any father feels for his children—in fact, he loves us more than any earthly father could ever love his children.

But don’t you find it hard, no matter how many times you pray the Lord’s Prayer, to believe, deep down, that God loves you? Think of the kinds of thoughts that can creep into our minds: Sure God loves humanity in general, but he must be disappointed with me. God has given me so many blessings, but I still fall short; how could he love someone like that? Whenever these thoughts arise, imagine Jesus telling you in his strong voice, “The Father himself loves you” (John 16:27).

Jesus himself gave proof of his Father’s love only a few short hours later when he went willingly to his passion and death. This act of love so moved St. John that, decades later, he remembered Jesus’ promise that our joy would be “complete” because he made it possible for us to approach God as our Father (John 16:24).

This truth is so revolutionary that it has changed the course of history—and it is changing your life as well! Spend some of your prayer time today sitting with this verse. Read it over and over again, or recite it aloud to yourself: “The Father himself loves you” (John 16:27). Ask the Holy Spirit to bring this truth home to you. As you do, imagine Jesus at your side, encouraging you to go to the Father. Put aside any thought of God as being cruel or angry or unforgiving. Instead, focus on John’s unflinching faith in this truth: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (3:16).

God loves you. Whoever you are and whatever you’ve done, he still loves you. Come to him in prayer today. Dare to call him your Father.

“Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, hear my prayer.”

Acts 18:23-28
Psalm 47:2-3, 8-10
John 16:23-28

WORD AMONG US