Catechism of the Catholic Church

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2794 This biblical expression does not mean a place ("space"), but a way of being; it does not mean that God is distant, but majestic. Our Father is not "elsewhere": he transcends everything we can conceive of his holiness. It is precisely because he is thrice holy that he is so close to the humble and contrite heart.

"Our Father who art in heaven" is rightly understood to mean that God is in the hearts of the just, as in his holy temple. At the same time, it means that those who pray should desire the one they invoke to dwell in them. ⁵⁴ "Heaven" could also be those who bear the image of the heavenly world, and in whom God dwells and tarries. ⁵⁵

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PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER

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SECTION TWO: THE LORD'S PRAYER: "OUR FATHER!"

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ARTICLE 2: OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN"

Notes for the above paragraph:

54 St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. in monte 2, 5, 18: PL 34, 1277.

55 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 5:11: PG 33, 1117.

English Translation of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.

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