Jesus opens his prayer with the words “our Father who is in heaven”. “Our” reminds us that we pray not as isolated individuals but with the communion of the saints. Curiously, all of Jesus’ prayers, except his cry of dereliction (Mt 27:46), begin with “Father.” Of all the titles we use to refer to God, Jesus invites his disciples into his own familial relationship with the Father. However, the word “father” is a loaded term for those who have had broken relationships with their earthly fathers. We can tend to project our meaning of what fatherhood is onto Jesus’ understanding of the Heavenly Father. But how are we to understand our Father in Heaven?  And how might our view of Jesus’ Heavenly Father shape how we pray?