God the Father, in his immense mercy, wants to communicate with us, to give us his life. It is in the person of his Son Jesus that we find the model of this communication. In recognizing this surrender, we feel moved to surrender our lives as well. We gratefully acknowledge how much the Father does for us, especially all that he gives us every day. We want to imitate him, to follow everything that he has done.

We are challenged by God to have a constant attitude of availability, being willing every day to do something good in our lives for others. It will not be easy, as we will always live in this tension of fighting against discouragement, tiredness, laziness, and self-indulgence. Selfishness, which closes us into ourselves and our interests, is something we will have to deal with every day, asking God for the strength and courage of not letting ourselves stand still.

The offering prayer, prayed each morning, provides the means of availability, to collaborate with the mission of the Risen Jesus in the world. It allows us to offer our joys, sorrows, works, and everything else that happens every day to God is a deeply Christian attitude. The offering prayer is a real treasure trove of the spirituality of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

• Fr. Antonio Valerio, SJ
  Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Portugal)