582. Why can we dare to draw near to God in full confidence?
(Comp 582) Because Jesus, our Redeemer,
brings us into the Father’s presence and his Spirit makes us his children. We
are thus able to pray the Our Father with simple and filial trust, with joyful
assurance and humble boldness, with the certainty of being loved and heard.
“In brief”
(CCC 2797) Simple and faithful trust, humble and joyous
assurance are the proper dispositions for one who prays the Our Father.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2777) In the Roman liturgy, the Eucharistic assembly is
invited to pray to our heavenly Father with filial boldness; the Eastern liturgies
develop and use similar expressions: "dare in all confidence,"
"make us worthy of...." From the burning bush Moses heard a voice
saying to him, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for
the place on which you are standing is holy ground" (Ex 3:5). Only Jesus
could cross that threshold of the divine holiness, for "when he had made
purification for sins," he brought us into the Father's presence:
"Here am I, and the children God has given me" (Heb 1:3; 2:13). Our
awareness of our status as slaves would make us sink into the ground and our
earthly condition would dissolve into dust, if the authority of our Father
himself and the Spirit of his Son had not impelled us to this cry… 'Abba,
Father!'… When would a mortal dare call God 'Father,' if man's innermost being
were not animated by power from on high?" (St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 71, 3: PL 52, 401CD; cf. Gal
4:6).
Reflection
(CCC 2778) This power of the Spirit who introduces us to the
Lord's Prayer is expressed in the liturgies of East and of West by the
beautiful, characteristically Christian expression: parrhesia, straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous
assurance, humble boldness, the certainty of being loved (Cf. Eph 3:12; Heb
3:6; 4:16; 10:19; 1 Jn 2:28; 3:21; 5:14).
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