Pope Francis reflects on the importance of oral prayer in his catechesis at Wednesday’s general audience.
By Christopher Wells
Prayer, Pope Francis said during his general audience on Wednesday, “is a dialogue with God; and every creature in some sense enters into dialogue with God. “
For people, he continued, “becomes prayer word, invocation, hymn, poetry … The divine Word is made flesh and in the flesh of every person the word returns to God in prayer. “
The importance of words
The Holy Father’s catechesis began with a reflection on words that not only emanate from us, but also “shape us to a certain extent.” In the Bible, words expose everything and ensure that “nothing human is excluded, censored.”
That, said Pope Francis, “is why the Scriptures teach us to pray, sometimes even in bold words.” The human authors of the Bible intend to show mankind as it really is, to the point that they even “harsh expressions against enemies … words pertaining to human reality that make their way into the Holy Scriptures. “
They have been recorded, explained the Pope, “to testify to us that if, despite violence, there were no words to defuse bad feelings, to channel them so that they do not harm, the world would be overwhelmed.”
The surest way to pray to God
Pope Francis notes that “the first human prayer is always an oral recitation. The lips always move first. “
While he recognized that prayer is not simply repeating words without meaning, he nonetheless emphasized that oral prayer is the “surest” way to speak to God. Feelings, he said, can be uncertain and unpredictable, as can the graces that come from prayer. Sometimes the mysterious “prayer of the heart” can be missing.
However, vocal prayer “can always be practiced” and is necessary even when our feelings are confused.
Whispered prayer
“We should all have the humility of certain older people who in church … softly recite the prayers they learned as children,” said Pope Francis. “That prayer does not disturb the silence, but is testimony to their fidelity to the duty of prayer practiced throughout their lives without fail.”
These “practitioners of humble prayer,” he said, “are often the great intercessors of our parishes.” They too, like all of us, are sometimes confronted with dark nights and ’empty moments’. But, said the Pope, “one can always remain faithful to oral prayer.”
That is why Pope Francis concluded, “We must not despise vocal prayer,” which is the only “sure” way “to ask God the questions He wants to hear.”