As he celebrated Mass today, Francis noted that on many occasions we get bored during prayer. However, the latter does not mean asking this or that, but is "the intercession of Jesus, who before the Father bares His wounds for the Father to see." Indeed, "If we are not able to move out of ourselves and toward our brother in need, to the sick, the ignorant, the poor, the exploited; if we are not able to accomplish this exodus from ourselves, and towards those wounds, we shall never learn about the freedom that carries us through that other exodus from ourselves towards the wounds of Jesus."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - True prayer is that which is addressed to the Father in the name of Jesus, a prayer that brings us out of ourselves and opens us to the Father and our brothers in need, i.e. those who "carry the cross and still have not won, as Jesus has." This is the lesson Pope Francis draws from the Gospel passage in which Jesus says, "[I]f you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you," which was read this morning, like other passages are read every other morning, in the Domus Sanctae Marthae in the presence today of members of the Vatican Gendarmerie and a group of Argentine journalists and their families.

In his homily, excerpts of which were reported by Vatican Radio, the pope focused on today's Gospel reading, saying, "There is something new here, something that changes; something new in prayer. The Father will give us everything, but always in the name of Jesus."

As the Lord ascends to the Father, he enters "the heavenly Sanctuary," opens doors, leaving them open because "He Himself is the door" and "intercedes for us," as a priest does, "until the end of the world".

"He prays for us before the Father. I always liked that," the Holy Father said. "Jesus, in His resurrection, had a beautiful body. The wounds from flogging and the crown of thorns are gone, all of them. The bruises from beating are healed and gone. But He had always wanted to keep the wounds," for they "are precisely His prayer of intercession to the Father," as if he is, "'But . . . look . . . . This is what he is asking you in My name. Look!' This is the new thing that Jesus is announcing to us. He tells us this new thing: to have faith in His passion, to have faith in His victory over death, to have faith in His wounds. He is the priest and this is the sacrifice: his wounds. This is what gives us faith, isn't it? And the courage to pray."

Although the pope noted that we get bored many times when we pray, prayer is not about asking this or that. It is "the intercession of Jesus, who before the Father bares His wounds for the Father to see."

"Praying to the Father in the name of Jesus brings us out of ourselves. Prayers that bore us are always in ourselves, as a thought that comes and goes. A true prayer is moving out of ourselves and moving towards the Father in the name of Jesus. It is an exodus out of ourselves."

How can we "recognise the wounds of Jesus in heaven?" Pope Francis goes on to ask. "Where is the school is at which one learns to recognise the wounds of Jesus, these priestly wounds, of intercession?" The answer for him lies in "another exodus, out of ourselves towards the wounds of our fellow human beings, our brothers and our sisters in need."

"If we are unable to move out of ourselves and move towards our brother in need, towards the sick, the ignorant, the poor, the exploited; if we are unable to do this exodus out of ourselves, and towards their wounds, we shall never be able to learn about the freedom that leads us through that other exodus out ourselves towards the wounds of Jesus. There are two ways out of ourselves; one goes towards the wounds of Jesus, the other goes towards the wounds of our brothers and sisters. This is the path Jesus wants [us to follow] in our prayer."

In concluding, Pope Francis said, "This is the new way to pray: with the confidence and courage that allow us to know that Jesus is before the Father, showing the Father His wounds, but also with the humility of those who come to recognise and find the wounds of Jesus in his needy brothers and sisters," who "carry the cross and still have not won, as Jesus has."

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