Continuing his catechesis on Christian prayer, Pope Francis reflects on why and how we should pray in all the events of daily life.
By Robin Gomes
At last week’s general audience, Pope Francis spoke about how Christian prayer is “anchored” in the liturgy. In this week’s audience, broadcast live from the Library of the Apostolic Palace, he explains how prayer returns from the liturgy to everyday situations in life, such as the streets, offices and public transport.
“Essentially, everything becomes part of this dialogue with God,” which is prayer. “Every joy becomes a cause for praise, every trial is an opportunity to ask for help,” he says. “Prayer,” according to the Pope, “is always alive in life, like embers of fire … Even when the mouth does not speak, the heart speaks.”
Every thought, even a seemingly “profane” one, can be imbued with prayer, “which illuminates the few steps before us and which opens itself to all the reality that precedes and surpasses it.”
“Christian prayer instills an invincible hope in the human heart,” the Pope said, adding, “Any experience we touch on our journey, the love of God can make it good.”
Praying in the present, today
In this sense, Pope Francis quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says: “We learn to pray at certain times by listening to the Word of the Lord and sharing its Paschal mystery, but its spirit is offered to us at all times, to the events of every day, so that prayer may spring from us ”. “Time is in the hands of the Father,” says the Catechism, emphasizing, “It is in the present that we find it, not yesterday or tomorrow, but today.”
The Pope points out that there are people who look to the future without taking today as it comes. They live in a fantasy world and do not know how to live the current concrete reality.
Prayer transforms us
The Pope says that prayer transforms the day we live in grace, or rather, transforms us.
Prayer “soothes anger, sustains love, multiplies joy, and instills the strength to forgive.” Grace lives and works in us; the problems we face no longer seem to be obstacles to our happiness, but appeal to God, opportunities to find Him.
“When you have an angry or unhappy thought that entails bitterness,” exhorts the Pope, “you must stop and turn to God. The Lord, who is there, will give you the right word and counsel to move forward without this refusal when one is accompanied by the Lord, one feels braver, freer and also happier. “
Who to pray for?
The Holy Father invites Christians to pray always, not only for our loved ones, but for everyone, even those we do not know. “We pray even for our enemies, as the Scriptures often invite us to do,” he says, adding, “Prayer inclines us toward excessive love.”
He invites us to pray for those who are sad and for those who weep in loneliness and despair, wondering if there is still someone who loves them. The prayer of a Christian, says Pope Francis, works miracles by showing Christ’s compassion for the poor.
In fact, Jesus looked very tenderly at the weary and lost people who were like sheep without a shepherd. Compassion, closeness, and tenderness, he emphasizes, are the “style” of the Lord.
We are all God-loved sinners
Pope Francis also explains that prayer helps us to love others, despite their mistakes and sins, and emphasizes that the person is always more important than his actions. And Jesus did just that. He did not judge the world, but saved it.
The Holy Father wonders what the bad and unhappy life of those who always judge and condemn others should be. Instead, open your hearts, forgive, justify others, be close to others, have compassion and tenderness like Jesus, he urges.
“We must love each and every person,” the Pope continues, and remind us that we are all sinners and “at the same time loved individually by God.” In this way, “we will discover that every day and everything has within it a fragment of the mystery of God.”
Kingdom of God of justice and peace
The Catechism further points out that “it is right and proper to pray that the coming of the kingdom of justice and peace may influence the course of history.” But for this to happen, “it is important to bring the help of prayer to everyday and humble situations; all forms of prayer can be the leaven with which the Lord compares the kingdom ”.
In conclusion, Pope Francis points out that we are fragile beings, but we know how to pray, which is our highest dignity and our strength. “Pray at every moment and in every situation because the Lord is near,” he urges.
“And when a prayer is made according to the heart of Jesus, that prayer obtains miracles.”