Continuing his catechesis on Christian prayer at the weekly Vatican General Audience, Pope Francis explains that prayer belongs to the very essence of the Church, without which it cannot carry out its mission and evangelistic service to others.
By Robin Gomes
In his catechesis for Wednesday’s general audience, the Pope explained how the Church is a great school of prayer. As children, he said, we learn our first prayers around grandparents and parents, who also give their Gospel-inspired advice. Later, the experience of faith and prayer is deepened through meetings with other witnesses and teachers of prayer, such as in the life of a parish and of any Christian community, marked by liturgical and communal prayer. .
Prayer and life’s difficulties
“The garment of faith,” said the Pope, “is not starched, but develops with us.” It is not rigid, it grows, even in times of crisis and resurrection. And “you can’t grow without moments of crisis, because the crisis makes you grow.”
He continued, “And the breath of faith is prayer: we grow in faith as we learn to pray.” After certain moments in life, we are aware that without faith we would not have succeeded and that our strength was prayer. We realize that not only personal prayer, but also that of our brothers, sisters and the community, whom we asked, also accompanied and supported us. “
Community and prayer
The Pope explained: “This is also why communities and groups dedicated to prayer in the Church flourish. Monasteries, convents, hermitages often become centers of spiritual light, small oases in which intense prayer is shared and fraternal communion is built day by day “. The Pope said: “They are vital cells not only for the ecclesial fabric, but for society itself.” In this regard, he recalled the role of monasticism in the birth and growth of European civilization, as well as in other cultures. “Praying and working in community makes the world go forward. It’s an engine. “
“Everything in the Church,” the Pope continued, “originates in prayer and everything grows through prayer.” He noted that while making reforms and changes in the Church, some groups made a great effort in terms of organization and media, but sometimes prayer is lacking. “Prayer,” the Pope said, “is what opens the door to the Holy Spirit, which is what inspires us to move forward.” He continued, “Changes in the Church without prayer are not changes in the Church, they are group changes. And when the enemy wants to fight the Church, he does so first by trying to dry up his sources by preventing them from praying, and [inducing it to] make these other proposals. “When the prayer ceased, he said,” The Church realizes that she has become an empty shell, that she has lost her behavior, and that she no longer has her source of warmth and love. ” .
Prayer: oil for the light of faith
The Pope noted that holy women and men also have problems in their lives and often face opposition. “But their strength is prayer” by which they nourish the flame of their faith, like the oil used for lamps. Thus, they move forward with faith and hope, “not with the weapons of money and power, nor with the media and the like, but with the weapon of prayer.”
Evangelization and service
“In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus raises a dramatic question that always makes us reflect,” the Pope said. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Or, the Pope asked, “Will you only find organizations, like a group of ‘entrepreneurs of faith,’ all well-organized, doing charity and many other things?” That is why, he said, Jesus insists on the “need to pray with perseverance without getting tired.” Therefore, “the light of faith will always be on earth as long as there is the oil of prayer”.
The Pope said that it is prayer that makes our prayer and our poor, weak and sinful life move forward with certainty. Therefore, Christians should ask themselves if they pray and how they pray. “Do I pray like a parrot or from the heart? I pray feeling part of the Church and praying for their needs, or I pray a little according to my needs, letting my ideas become prayer, ”the Pope asked. “This is a pagan prayer, not a Christian prayer,” he said.
The essential task of the Church, then, is to pray and teach to pray, transmitting “the light of faith and the oil of prayer from generation to generation.” Without the light of that light, he said that evangelization would not be possible and that we could not approach and serve our brothers and sisters. “For this reason,” said the Pope, “the Church, as a house and school of communion, is the house and school of prayer.”