Every
person who understands that he is God’s creature will humbly recognize the
Almighty and adore him. Christian adoration, however, sees not only the
greatness, omnipotence, and →HOLINESS of God. It also kneels
before the divine Love that became man in Jesus Christ.
Someone who really adores
God kneels down before him or prostrates himself on the ground. This gives
expression to the truth about the relation between man and God: He is great and
we are little. At the same time, man is never greater than when he freely and
devoutly kneels down before God. The unbeliever who is seeking God and is
beginning to pray can find God in this way.
Every day, at sunrise and
sunset, believers renew their “adoration” or acknowledgment of the presence of
God, Creator and Lord of the Universe. This recognition is full of gratitude
that wells up from the depths of their heart and floods their entire being, for
it is only by adoring and loving God above all things that human beings can
totally fulfill themselves.
POPE BENEDICT XVI,
August 7, 2005
Why
should we petition God?
