Today, the Church celebrates the Annunciation of the Lord. In the midst of our Lenten observances, we celebrate today with great joy because our God has given us a sign. In the depths of our fears and worries about keeping ourselves and our families safe while the cases of COVID-19 are on the rise across this country, today we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah: the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us' (Is 7:14; 8:10).
At the conclusion of his Angelus greetings this past Sunday, Pope Francis asked all Christians to pray together. In these days of trial, while humanity is trembling under the threat of the pandemic, I would like to propose to all Christians to unite their voices in prayer to Heaven (Angelus, 22 March 2020). His Holiness is asking us to pray the Lord's Prayer at 12:00 noon Rome time today (that's 7:00am EDT). What a wonderful expression of faith this is: voices of all Christians, voices of all confessions all calling on God with the words that Jesus has taught us while we prepare to celebrate the victory of the Risen Christ at Easter.
In the midst of our uncertainties, the Lord is with us. He is a loving and caring father who is close to all his children. He knows our worries. He knows our fears. Together, let us turn to him, the one who sent his angel to a young woman in Nazareth (cf Lk 1:26-27) to proclaim the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, to send his angels to surround us and protect us.
Several times a day, let us raise our voices in prayer: Our Father ...
Have a great day.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Lord's Prayer
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today, we have agreed to meet, all Christians of the world, to pray the Lord's Prayer together, the prayer that Jesus taught us.
As trusting children, we turn to our Father. We do this every day, many times a day; but in this moment, we want to implore mercy for humanity during the trial of the coronavirus pandemic. And we do this together, Christians of all Churches and Communities, of all traditions, of all ages, languages and nationalities.
Let us pray for the sick and for their families; for the health care workers and for all those who are assisting them; for the Authorities, the Military and the volunteers and the ministers within all our communities.
Today, many of us are celebrating the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of the Virgin Mary, when in her Yes, here I am, which was humble and total, she herself mirrored the words - Here I am - spoken by the Son of God. We too entrust ourselves with full trust into the hands of God and with one heart and with one soul, we pray:
Our Father ...
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