Pope Francis: “Dare to Call God ‘Father'”

In today’s general audience, Pope Francis said, “Calling God by the name ‘Father’ is not something that can be taken for granted. We are tempted to use the highest titles, which are respectful of his transcendence. But calling him ‘Father’ puts us in His confidence, like a child talking to his dad, knowing that he is loved and cared for by him.” The Pope added, “God is a Father in His own way: good, helpless before man’s free will, only able to conjugate the verb ‘to love’ . . . God is a father who does not apply human justice and is ready to forgive and embrace his long lost son . . . We are never alone. We can be distant, hostile, we can even declare ourselves ‘without God.’ But the Gospel of Jesus Christ reveals that God cannot be without us: He will never be a God ‘without man’.”