What could be more characteristically Catholic than to begin prayer with the words “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”? When the disciples asked Our Lord to teach them how to pray, Jesus responded: “Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. [St. Matthew 6:9] “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come.” [St. Luke 11:2] Christ’s entire life was devoted to the Father, to accomplish His Father’s will, to reveal the Father to us and to make known the Father’s love for us. Our Lord Himself, as man, prayed continually to the Father and would not even take a morsel of bread without thanking the Father. Both as the Son of God and the Son of Man, His devotion to the Father was complete and absolute (“Father, not My will but Thy will be done!”) and loving (“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”) Throughout His discourse to the Apostles on Holy Thursday night Our Lord told them of the Father. [St. John 13-17] So the Catholic Church has learned from her Divine Founder to honor God the Father and, as a loving Mother, the Church teaches us, her children, true devotion to God the Father. The Church’s orations at Mass are directed principally to the Father, as Jesus Himself has taught us by word and example to “go to the Father.” for the “Father Himself loveth you because you have loved Me..” At our baptisms we became children of God the Father and the Holy Ghost entered our souls crying “Abba, Father!” [Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6] Our Lord Jesus Christ became man to reconcile us to the Father. In His Face, we see the face of the Father; in His voice, we hear the voice of the Father; in His love, we see the love of the Father. We must, therefore, learn to approach God the Father in child-like prayer. Christ told the Apostles “rejoice because “I go to the Father.” So must we also rejoice to go to the Father.