Fr. Michael Williams

In his recent book, Jesus of Nazareth Pope Benedict asks the question, ‘What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity and a better world? What has He brought?’ The Pope answers his own question very concisely and precisely when he says, ‘The answer is simple: God. Jesus has brought us God…and now we know His face, now we can call upon Him’.

We can call upon Him by calling God, ‘Father’. When Our Lord prays He always begins with the word, ‘Father’. This shows us that our relationship to God is the intimate relationship of a child to its parent. Thus we are called to have an intimate relationship with God our Father, through Jesus, ‘the Only Son of God’. Through baptism we are united to Jesus, and the Spirit has been poured into our hearts that allows us to say to God, ‘Father’. It is only because of Christ that we can call God, ‘Father’.

Jesus has taught His disciples to call God, ‘Father’. But He has also taught us- primarily by His own example- that we need to put our trust in the Father, especially in difficult moments. Jesus teaches us that ‘if you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen…you may go on trusting the One who loves you’ (Pope Benedict -Jesus of Nazareth). Jesus trusted through His crucifixion and was brought to the glory of the Resurrection. Therefore we need to say with Jesus, ‘Father, let your will be done, not mine’.

In the Lord’s prayer we also ask the Father: ‘Your Kingdom come’. In this petition we are asking God to make His home in the depth of our being. And if God’s Kingdom is to make its home in our being, first of all we must allow God to cast out the malice, the selfishness and the pride that exists within us. God gave the Church the Sacrament of Confession so as to enable Christ to cast out the sins which block the Kingdom of God growing within us, and within our world. Sin needs to be removed so that the Kingdom of God grows within us.

Jesus brings us God and His Kingdom. There are voices of the antichrist that say there is no God. These voices have resulted in an abandoning of faith and prayer in our society. And when prayer and our connection with God diminishes from our lives and our society the kingdom of evil and sin flourishes. Pope Benedict says, ‘When men lose sight of God, peace disintegrates and violence proliferates to a formerly unimaginable degree of cruelty. This we see only too clearly today’. It was also seen in Sodom and Gomorrah at the time of Abraham. But even when evil flourishes, God inspires us to pray. He inspires us to pray that the Kingdom of God will enter into our being and into our world.

Pope Benedict teaches us concisely and precisely that, ‘Jesus has brought us God…and now we know His face, now we can call upon Him’. So let us pray without ceasing, ‘Father may Your Kingdom come’, because the world needs God more than ever.