Pope Francis continues his catechesis on Christian prayer during the weekly General Audience at the Vatican and explains that prayer is the very essence of the Church, without which it cannot carry out its mission of evangelism and service to others.
By Robin Gomes
In his catechesis at Wednesday’s General Audience, the Pope explained that the Church is a great school of prayer. As children, he said, we learn our first prayers on the lap of grandparents and parents, who also give their advice inspired by the gospel. Later, the experience of faith and prayer is deepened through encounters with other witnesses and teachers in prayer, as in the life of a parish and any Christian community characterized by liturgical and communal prayer.
Prayer and difficulties in life
“The garment of faith,” said the Pope, “does not become stiff, but develops with us.” It is not rigid, it grows even during times of crisis and resurrection. And “you cannot grow without moments of crisis, because crisis allows you to 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 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 for, also accompanied and supported us. “
Community and prayer
The Pope explained: “This is also why communities and groups devoted to prayer flourish in the Church. Monasteries, monasteries, hermits often become centers of spiritual light, small oases in which intensive prayer is shared and fraternal communion every day is being built up. ” The Pope said, “They are cells that are vital not only to the ecclesiastical fabric, but also to that of society itself.” In this regard, he recalled the role of monastic life in the birth and growth of European civilization and other cultures. “Praying and working in the community keeps the world going. It’s an engine. “
“Everything in the Church,” continued the Pope, “springs from prayer, and everything grows because of prayer.” He pointed out that some groups were making great efforts in organization and media in implementing reforms and changes in the Church, but prayer is sometimes lacking. “Prayer,” said the Pope, “is what opens the door to the Holy Spirit, what inspires us to move forward.” He continued, “Changes in the church without prayer are not church changes, they are group changes. And if the enemy wants to fight the church, he does so first of all by trying to dry up its resources, by preventing prayer, and [inducing it to] make these other proposals. “When the prayer ended, he said,” the church realizes that it has become like an empty shell, lost its hold 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 often face opposition. “But their strength is prayer” whereby they feed the flame of their faith, like oil used for lamps. Thus they go on, walking in faith and hope, “not with the weapons of money and power, or of the media and things, but with the weapon of prayer.”
Evangelism and service
“In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus asks a dramatic question that always prompts us to think,” said the Pope: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Or, the Pope asked, “Will He only find organizations, such as a group of ‘entrepreneurs of faith,’ who are all well organized, doing charity and many things?” That, he said, is why Jesus insists on the “need to pray with perseverance without getting tired.” Hence, “the lamp of faith will always burn on the earth as long as there is the oil of prayer.”
The Pope said that prayer certainly produces our prayer and our poor, weak, sinful life. Therefore, Christians must ask themselves whether they pray and how they pray. Am I praying like a parrot or from my heart? Do I pray feeling part of the Church and pray for its needs, or do I pray a little according to my needs, and let my ideas become prayer, ”the Pope asked. “This is a pagan prayer, not a Christian prayer,” he said.
Thus, the essential task of the Church is to pray and learn to pray, transmitting “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 come closer to serve our brothers and sisters. “For this reason,” said the Pope, “the Church, as the home and school of the community, is the home and school of prayer.”