The Pope's recently concluded catechesis on Christian prayer, based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is full of vivid images, anchored in the history of salvation, especially in the Gospels.
In this way he implicitly answers the question about the role of prayer in the formation of the Christian's affectivity and sensitivity.
The Vatican News summarizes this catechesis with this phrase "from the human heart to the mercy of God." (A. Lomonaco). And reciprocity could well serve as an expression of God's initiative, who wants to "infect" man with his mercy: "from the heart of God to the mercy of man.".
This is particularly evident in Jesusin his life, in his teachings, in his dedication to us.
This Christian prayer springs from the cry of faith in the midst of darknessas in Bartimaeus. But also from the heart of every man, even if he does not know it. Because every man is a "beggar of God". (St. Augustine).
Cause, the Christian's prayer is born of God's revelationwho brought us closer to Jesus in order to bring us into covenant and friendship with Him. For God knows only love and mercy. "That is the incandescent core of all Christian prayer. The God of love, our Father who waits for us and accompanies us." (General Audience, May 13, 2020).
Also, prayer arises from the beauty of creation, because what is created bears "the signature of God". And it translates into admiration, gratitude and hope. Whoever prays becomes a bearer of light and joy.
Christian prayer opens the door to the God of life. An atheist head of government, Francis says, found God because he remembered that "grandmother prayed". It is a sowing of life. And that is why it is important to find times to do family prayer and teach children to pray and make the sign of the cross. Prayer is the longing for an encounter with God..
Let us remember, the prayer of the righteous, which is listening and reception, made personal history, of the Word of God (Abraham). It is, from imperviousness to grace, openness to the mercy of God. (Jacob). It is to become a bridge between God and the people (Moses). These early Christian prayers are "the red thread that gives unity to everything that happens." (David). The way to regain serenity and peace. (Elias).
In the Psalms, the prayer assures us that God has the heart of a father who tenderly weeps for his children, for their pain and suffering.as Jesus wept for Jerusalem and for Lazarus.
Jesus reveals to us that He is continually before the Father and with the Holy Spirit praying for us. In his Gethsemane prayer he teaches us to allow ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit and to abandon ourselves to the Father.
When prayer is not present, we have no strength, we have no oxygen to live. Because Christian prayer brings us the presence of the Holy Spirit and takes away our fear. In it we unite ourselves to Jesus. The prayer of Jesus is the "place" of his inner life with God the Father, the place of abandonment to his will. He "prays for us as our priest; he prays in us as our head; he is prayed for us as our God. Let us therefore recognize in him our voice, and in us his voice". (St. Augustine).
Like Mary's prayer, full of trust and docility, as Francis points out: "Sir, whatever you want, whenever you want and however you want.". Her heart treasures the events, especially those of the life of Jesus, in prayer, like the pearl that is built with elements of the environment. The Church also perseveres, from the beginning, in prayer, thanks to the Holy Spirit, who gives her unity and life. A life that is the same life of Jesus (cf. Gal 2:20).
Christian prayer helps us to allow ourselves to be blessed by God in order to bless others. It teaches us to wait and to ask, to intercede and to love. It is about making the needs of the people around us our own, based on identifying ourselves with the heart of God: "In reality, it is about looking with the eyes and heart of God, with the same invincible compassion and tenderness. To pray with tenderness for others." (General Audience, December 16, 1920). Pray with gratitude and hope, pray praising God, like Jesus, because the simple and humble are able to recognize God.
As aids or toIn the first place, the Pope pointed to Sacred Scripture as a source of support for Christian prayer.The saints, who left their "mold", their imprint, in the lives of the saints, with obedience and creativity. Also the liturgyFor a Christian without liturgy is like a Christian without the "total Christ" (in the expression of St. Augustine: Christ, head with his body which is the Church).
When we go to mass o celebrate a sacrament, we pray with Christ, who makes Himself present, and we each and all of us together, act with Him.
Pope Francis affirms, "Prayer happens today. Jesus comes to meet us today, this today that we are living. And it is prayer that transforms this today into grace, or rather, that transforms usIt appeases anger, sustains love, multiplies joy, instills the strength to forgive". (General Audience, 10-II-2021).
And so the Pope returns to this fundamental core; Christian prayer grafts us into the heart of God to teach us to love as He loves.with mercy and tenderness, without putting judgment and condemnation first.
It is worth transcribing this longer paragraph: "Prayer helps us to love others, despite their mistakes and sins. The person is always more important than his actions, and Jesus has not judged the world, but has saved it. (...) Jesus has come to save us: open your heart, forgive, justify others, understand, be close to others, be compassionate, be tender like Jesus. It is necessary to love each and every one, remembering, in prayer, that we are all sinners and at the same time loved by God one by one. Thus loving this world, loving it with tenderness, we will discover that every day and every thing has hidden in it a fragment of the mystery of God". (Ibid.)
For Christian prayer is a school of mercy, a source of mercy for our heart, as we identify with the heart of God.
Also, "prayer opens us wide to the "Trinity"". (General Audience, March 3, 2013-2021). Jesus has revealed to us the heart of God, and the way of prayer is the humanity of Christ. In this "way", the Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray to God our Father. The Spirit is the inner teacher and the main artisan of our prayer. (cf. General Audience, 17-III-2021)the artist who composes in us original works of art. The works, we could say, of the heart (in the biblical sense), the works of love.
And that heart also lives in the heart of our Mother, Mary. And it lives in the heart of the Church, which is the communion of all saintsWhen we pray, we are never alone, but in the company of other brothers and sisters in the faith, both those who have gone before us and those who are still on pilgrimage with us. In this communion, the saints, whether recognized or anonymous, "next door," pray and intercede for and with us. Together with them, we are immersed in a sea of invocations and supplications that rise up to the Father." (General Audience, April 7, 2021).
The entire Church (in families, parishes, and other Christian communities) is a teacher of Christian prayer. Everything in the Church is born and grows in prayer. And the reforms that are sometimes proposed without prayer, do not go forward, they remain in an empty shell, when they do not make war on the Church together with her Enemy.
Only with prayer is the light, the strength and the path of faith maintained. For the Christian's prayer is oil for the lamp of faith. Indeed, and Therefore, we must not only pray, but also teach how to pray, educate for prayer.
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To ponder the importance of vocal prayer (the prayers that many of us have learned as children, especially the Our Father), the Pope says: "The divine Word has become flesh, and in the flesh of every person the word returns to God in prayer". And he continues: "Words are our creatures, but they are also our mothers, and in some way they shape us. The words of a prayer make us pass safely through a dark valley, directing us towards green meadows rich with water, making us feast under the eyes of an enemy, as the psalm teaches us to recite (cf. Ps 23)".
From there we can move on to meditation, which makes us meet Jesus under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And from meditation, to contemplative prayer. (cf. General Audience, May 5, 2021)The contemplation of those who, like the holy Curé of Ars, feel that they are looked upon by God. Contemplation, which becomes identified with love, is not opposed to Christian action, but rather supports it and guarantees its quality.
And about the contemplation that is the goal of all Christian prayerFrancis insists on this school of the heart that is prayer.
"To be contemplative does not depend on the eyes, but on the heart.. And here prayer comes into play, as an act of faith and love, as the 'breath' of our relationship with God. Prayer purifies the heartand with that, it also clarifies the viewpoint, allowing us to see reality from another point of view". (cf. General Audience, May 5, 2021)
Christian prayer is a combat (cf. General Audience, May 12, 2021) sometimes hard and long, sometimes with great darkness. Y many saints have given wise counsel. But it is still a struggle, like that of the worker - Francisco relates - who went by train to the shrine of Luján to pray all night for his sick daughter, who was miraculously cured.
Among the obstacles to prayerwhich we could call ordinary, distractions, dryness and laziness stand out (cf. General Audience, May 19, 2021). They must be fought with vigilance, hope and perseverance.Even though sometimes we get "angry" with God and like children we keep asking why.
In the Gospel there are cases where it is clearly seen that God waits to grant us what we ask for. What we must not lose is the certainty of being heard. (cf. General Audience, 26-V-2021). It may even seem that God the Father does not hear Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane, but it is necessary to wait patiently until the third day, when the resurrection takes place.
"Let us not forget - the Pope points out - that. what sustains each one of us in life is the prayer of Jesus for each one of us.The Father, with name, surname, before the Father, showing Him the wounds that are the price of our salvation (...). Sustained by the prayer of Jesus, our timid prayers are supported on eagle's wings and soar to heaven." (General Audience, June 2, 2011).
In correspondence of love, what we have to do is to persevere in prayer. (cf. General Audience, 9-VI-2021)and knowing how to combine it with work.
"Times dedicated to being with God revitalize faith, which helps us in the concreteness of life, and faith, in turn, nourishes prayer, without interruption. In this circularity between faith, life and prayer, the fire of Christian love that God expects of us is kept alive." (Ibid.).
Jesus' Easter prayer for us (cf. General Audience, 16-VI-2021) was the most intense, in the context of his passion and death: at the last supper, in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross.
In short, we do not only pray, but also "we have been prayed" by Jesus. "We have been loved in Christ Jesus, and even at the hour of his passion, death and resurrection everything has been offered for us. And from this must spring our hope and our strength to go forward, giving glory to God with our whole life.
In fact, in this way the Holy Spirit introduces and configures us to the very "sensitivity" of God. And in this way the Holy Spirit introduces and configures us to the very "sensitivity" of God.
Mr. Ramiro Pellitero Iglesias
Professor of Pastoral Theology
Faculty of Theology
University of Navarra
Published in "Church and new evangelization".
