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Hans Urs von Balthasar

Swiss theologian and Catholic priest

"This parrhesia on our part is the open, unconstrained and childlike approach to the Father, neither ashamed nor rearing shame.  We come to him with heads held high, as those who have an innate right to be there and to speak.  We may look into the Father's face without fear; we do not have to approach him as if he were an aloof monarch, with downcast eyes and obsequious gestures, within the confines of strict ceremonial and a prescribed form of address. The door stands open, and wherever the child of God may be, there too is that open door.  Man is not the door; it is Christ...and when he invites his fellow men and introduces them to the Father, it is as playmates, without any formality, or even better, as his brothers and sisters in the flesh."

Prayer, page 46

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