Father – with this word I express my certainty that someone is there who hears me, who never leaves me alone, who is always present. I express my certainty that God, despite the infinite difference between us, is such that I can speak to him, may even address him familiarly as ‘Thou.’ His greatness does not overwhelm me. . .I am so important to him, I belong so closely to him, that I can rightly address him as Father. My being born is not a mistake, then, but a grace. . .I am wanted; not a child of chance or necessity, but of choice and freedom. Therefore I shall always have a purpose in life; there will always be a meaning for me, a task designed just for me, there is a conception of me that I can seek and find and fulfill.
– Pope Benedict XVI
