Pope Francis continued his catechesis on Christian prayer at the weekly General Audience in the Vatican, explaining that prayer belongs to the core of the church, without which she cannot carry out her evangelistic mission and service to others.
By Robin Gomes
In his Catechesis to the general audience on Wednesday, the pope explained how the church is a wonderful prayer school. As children, he said, we learn our first prayers on the lap of grandparents and parents, who also give their counsel inspired by the Gospel. Later, the experience of faith and prayer is deepened through encounters with other witnesses and teachers of prayer, such as in the life of a congregation and every Christian community characterized by liturgical and community prayer.
Prayer and life problems
“The garment of faith,” said the pope, “is not starved, but develops with us.” It is not rigid, it grows, even through moments of crisis and resurrection. And “you can not grow without moments of crisis, because crisis makes you grow.”
He continued, “And the breath of faith is prayer: we grow in faith as far as we learn to pray.” After certain moments in life we become aware that without faith we could not get through it and that our strength was prayer. We realize that not only personal prayer but also that of our brothers and sisters and the community, who requested us, also accompanied and supported us. ‘
Fellowship and prayer
The pope explained: “This is also the reason why communities and groups dedicated to prayer flourish in the church. Monasteries, monasteries, hermits often become centers of spiritual light, small oases in which intense prayer is shared and fraternal communion day by day. be built up. ” The pope said: “These are cells that are not only essential for the church tissue, but also for society itself.” In this regard, he recalled the role of monasticism in the birth and growth of European civilization as well as other cultures. “Praying and working in the community keeps the world going. It’s a car. ”
“Everything in the church,” the pope continued, “has its origin in prayer and everything grows through prayer.” He pointed out that certain groups, while making reforms and changes in the church, have put a lot of effort into organization and the media, but prayer is sometimes lacking. “Prayer,” said the pope, “is what opens the door to the Holy Spirit, it is what inspires us to move forward.” He continues, “Changes in the church without prayer are not church changes, they are group changes. And when the Enemy wants to fight the Church, he does so first by trying to dry up his resources by preventing them from praying, and [inducing it to] make these other suggestions. When the prayer ceased, he said, “The Church realizes that it has become like an empty shell, has lost its camp and no longer has its source of warmth and love.”
Prayer – oil for the lamp of faith
The pope pointed out that holy women and men also have problems in their lives, and that they often have opposition. “But their power is prayer” by which they nourish the flame of their faith, like oil used for lamps. They therefore proceed in faith and hope, “not with the weapons of money and power or of the media and the like, but with the weapon of prayer.”
Evangelism and service
“In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus asks a dramatic question that always makes us think,” the pope said, “Will he, when the Son of Man comes, find faith on earth?” Or, the pope asked, “will He just find organizations, such as a group of ‘believers’, all well organized, doing charity and many things? ‘This is why Jesus insists on the’ need to pray with perseverance without to grow weary. “Therefore” the lamp of faith will always be kindled on the earth, as long as there is the oil of prayer. ”
The pope said that it is prayer that carries on with our prayer and our poor, weak, sinful life with certainty. Therefore, Christians need to ask themselves if they are praying and how they are praying. Do I pray like a parrot or from my heart? Do I pray that I am part of the church and pray for its needs, or do I pray a little according to my needs and let my ideas be prayed for, “the pope asked.” This is pagan prayer, not a Christian prayer. ‘, he said.
The essential task of the Church is therefore to pray and learn how to pray by passing on the “lamp of faith and the oil of prayer from generation to generation”. Without the light of this lamp, he said that evangelism would not be possible and that we would not be able to approach and serve our brothers and sisters. “For this reason,” said the pope, “the church, the house and the school of communion, the house and school are for prayer.”