"The word, "Father" makes me sure of one thing: I do not come from myself; I am a child. I am tempted at first to protest against this reminder as the prodigal son did. I want to be "of age", "emancipated," my own master. But then I ask myself: What is the alternative for me -- or for any person -- if I no longer have a Father, if I have left my state as a child definitively behind me? What have I gained thereby? Am I really free? No, I am free only when there is a principle of freedom, when there is someone who loves and whose love is strong. Ultimately, then, I have no alternative but to turn back again, to say "Father," and in that way to gain access to freedom by ackowledging the truth about myself. Then my glance falls on him who, his whole life long, identified himself as a child, as Son, and who, precisely as child and Son, was consubstantial with God himself: Jesus Christ. When I say "Father," the word automatically calls up the word "our." When I speak to God, I cannot address him solely as "Father." When I say "Father," I must include the "we" of all his children. But the opposite is also true: when I say "Father"I know that I have entered the company of all the children of God and that they are at my side. Consequently, talking with God does not distract me from my responsibility for the earth and for all mankind; it gives it to me anew. In the light of prayer, I can venture to accept it." -- Pope Benedict XVI
beautiful
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