By Fr. Paul D. Scalia, The Catholic Thing - “He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father . . .’” So begins our Lord’s beautiful catechesis on prayer. (Lk. 11:1-13) We should linger over that first word: Father. To say Father means to be a child. To say it authentically requires knowing oneself to be a child of God. So our Lord’s very first word on prayer contains the principle of divine filiation – our being children of God in the Son, able to go to the Father through, with, and in Him. Christian prayer rests on this fundamental truth. All prayer flows from our identity as children of God. Father is both the first and the last word on prayer.