# We Are All God’s Children – Advent Prayer with Pope Francis
*2015-12-04*

> Bill Young leads the Thursday, Week 1 Advent prayer from the book “Opening Our Hearts to God,” reflecting on 1 John 3:2 and a prayer to the Lord of Abraham, the prophets, and love.

## Opening the Day

Good morning. This is Bill Young, and welcome to the Prayer and Lunch podcast. Today we continue praying from our little book, *Opening Our Hearts to God*, which guides us through Advent with Pope Francis. We’ll pray the Thursday, Week 1 prayer, titled “We Are All God’s Children.”

## Scripture Reading

Our reading comes from 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

## The Prayer

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the prophets, God of love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace. Enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our sibling in Christ, and to respond with the love you have poured into our hearts.

## Reflection

Pope Francis reminds us that Advent is a time of opening our hearts to the mystery of God’s love. When we recognize that every person is a child of the same Father, we are called to break down barriers and become peacemakers. This prayer asks God for the daily grace to see each encounter as an opportunity to live out that sibling relationship.

*Advent invites us to open our hearts, seeing every person as a child of God, so we may become true instruments of peace.*