Pope Francis' General Audience: English summary

Dear Brothers and Sisters:  In our continuing catechesis on the “Our Father”, we now turn to the second part of the prayer, where we present our needs to God.  The first such petition, that God “give us this day our daily bread”, stems from the fact, often forgotten, that we are not sufficient unto ourselves.  We need to be nourished every day.  Yet Jesus teaches us to make this invocation united with the many men and women for whom this prayer is also a plea, forged amid a daily struggle for the bare necessities of life.  Seen in this light, Jesus’ words appear with even greater force, reminding us that Christian prayer is not an exercise for ascetics, but emerges from the needs of real people.  The bread we are to seek, then, is not my but our bread.  Jesus wants us to pray, not for ourselves but for our brothers and sisters.  In this way the “Our Father” becomes a prayer of empathy and solidarity.  We see such a desire to assist others in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, where Jesus also anticipates the ultimate offering of himself in the bread of the Eucharist, which alone is capable of fully satisfying our hunger for God himself.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those from England, Ireland, Denmark, Japan and the United States of America.  May the Lenten journey bring us to Easter with hearts purified and renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  Upon you, and your families, I invoke joy and peace in Christ our Redeemer!