God Is Our Father, We Are His Children PDF

# God Is Our Father, We Are His Children ## Lesson 1: The People Gather in Faith and in One Voice * What do you see in the picture? What do you think could gather them? * Have you heard of Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines in January of 2015? Have you seen him in pictures or on television? *...

# God Is Our Father, We Are His Children ## Lesson 1: The People Gather in Faith and in One Voice * What do you see in the picture? What do you think could gather them? * Have you heard of Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines in January of 2015? Have you seen him in pictures or on television? * What were the people shouting to Pope Francis? * **What is a Pope? Is he a god? What is he doing?** Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church whose office is in the Vatican City in Rome. For the Catholics, the Pope is a representative of Jesus. This is the reason why thousands of Catholics came over the country to welcome and see the Pope in Manila. Perhaps your parents have attended that meeting with the Pope. The Filipinos gathered were shouting with joy "Pope Francis, we love you!" Pope gave God's blessing to all of them. He was given a very warm welcome. He came to the Philippines as a part of his papal work. He visited the Filipinos especially those in Tacloban, Leyte who were victims of the super typhoon Yolanda in 2013. The super typhoon caused a great damage to properties like houses, business centers, and other sources of living and killed hundreds of people. * **During his visit, he met the bishops and priests in the Philippines. He went to Tacloban to see and meet the survivors of the super typhoon. He spent time with the youth at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) grounds, and finally with the Filipinos who went to the Rizal Park.** Pope Francis also had a special meeting with families at the Mall of Asia Arena where he met different kinds of families. * **In each of his meetings, Pope Francis prayed and blessed the people and asked them to pray for him, too. But why? Is it not that he should be the one to pray for us because he is a Pope?** Pope Francis a leader and at the same time a member of one big family. Pope Francis came to bring hope to the victims and bring the message of God to them. His message of love—a love that is shown through mercy and compassion. ## God's Covenant with Abraham * In the olden days, God also visited His people and made a promise to them. Will God's promise be the same for all of us today? Let us hear from His word. * There was a man named Abraham. He was ninety-nine years old, and to him Yahweh appeared. God made a covenant, a promise to Abraham. > I am God Almighty. Walk in My presence and be without blame! I will multiply your race and you will be the father of a multitude of nations: I will multiply your descendants: nations shall spring from you, kings shall be among your descendants. * **God made an everlasting Covenant with Abraham and his wife.** > As for Sarai, your wife, no longer are you to call her Sarai, but Sarah. I will bless her and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and from her will come nations; kings and peoples shall come from her. ## We Are Brothers and Sisters * The people who believe in God believe that our ancestors come from the descendants of the great father, Abraham. In the story, God chose to appear to an old man called Abraham. Abraham listened and obeyed what God asked of him. * **He lived faithfully in worshipping and serving God. He took good care of his family. From his family, all generations came who called God, Father. Through Abraham, God made all the people His own and made everyone who believed in Him a member of His one big family. We need to believe in God because He is our Father.** * He calls us His children so that we can call each other brothers and sisters. He shows mercy and compassion to those who call on Him, especially the poor. * **When we show mercy and compassion to others, we show our love for God, too. This is the will of God that He had spoken to Abraham. He wills us to remain merciful and compassionate to one another as brothers and sisters.** * In order to show mercy and compassion to the poor, we need to think, feel, and act. This is also the theme of the Pope's visit. Pope Francis told the youth at University of Santo Tomas, "You cannot be a true Christian if you do not share with the tears of the poor. Learn to cry with and for them." We need our minds to think of others in everything we do. We need our hearts to feel their hunger so that we know how much to give. We need our hands to act in giving something to fill their needs because they depend on our mercy and compassion. Like them, there are many things we need that we ask God to provide. We, too, depend on the mercy and compassion of God. When we do this today, the next generation will do the same.