Day 356: We Dare to Say

When we pray to the Father, we are in communion with him and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Then we know and recognize him with an ever new sense of wonder. the first phrase of the Our Father is a blessing of adoration before it is a supplication. For it is the glory of God that we should recognize him as "Father," the true God. We give him thanks for having revealed his name to us, for the gift of believing in it, and for the indwelling of his Presence in us. CCC 2781

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the boldness of Christianity in praying to God the Father as adopted sons in Christ. In this, the Faith is unique. Other religions, like Islam, don't conceive of God as "Father," let alone their adherents as adopted children. Yet, it is because of Christ our Redeemer that we can pray the Our Father with love and complete trust that He hears us and will do as He wills for us out of love.

The Catechism Compendium summarizes how it is possible for us to address God as “Father”:

We can invoke the “Father” because the Son of God made man has revealed him to us and because his Spirit makes him known to us. The invocation, Father, lets us enter into his mystery with an ever new sense of wonder and awakens in us the desire to act as his children. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are therefore aware of our being sons of the Father in the Son. (#583)

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

Every person shares in the image of God and is a beloved creature of God. But our adoption as sons and daughters of God occurs only through Baptism. Not every human being is adopted in this manner. We should be grateful for the privilege of being adopted sons and daughters of God. This aspect of our identity is transformative... We have to be humble, acknowledging our limited understanding of the Father. Many of us need freedom from faulty conceptions of God or fatherhood... In all of our prayers we need truth and trust. (p. 228)