We are children of God! This is what St. Paul tells us in today’s first reading: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Through our baptism we have received the holy Spirit. The Spirit not only leads us in our daily life, but also in our daily prayer. In the Scripture we often hear of people such as Zechariah, Elizabeth, or Mary, being filled with the holy Spirit (Luke 1:41, 67). The Spirit empowers them to pray and even emboldens them to make stunning proclamations.
Paul tells us that we are also filled with the holy Spirit and this Spirit emboldens us to address God as “Abba”. Aramaic was the native language of Jesus and “Abba” is an Aramaic word, a little like our informal mamma or papa. The Spirit and the teaching of Jesus lead us to address God with this informal term of closeness instead of “highbrow” terms of distance such as All Powerful or Omnipotent God. Paul argues that since we address God as “Abba”, “Father” we must be children of God: “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). Not only are we children of God but as children of God we are heirs or co-heirs with Christ.
If we are led by the Spirit of God and allow that Spirit to lead us to do God’s will then we are truly free. We should not live in fear but trust in God who “walks with us in the journey of our life” and whose Spirit guides us each day of our life and empowers us to pray even when we do not know what to say to God. Pray over this passage and hear what God is saying to you.