Pope: praying is not easy, distractions, barrenness and sloth hinder prayer

Distractions "are not at fault, but they must be fought". And Jesus says it a lot: "Be vigilant". "Spiritual bareness cannot be overcome with a grey heart, the heart must be bright, wait for consolation, and if it does not enter, wait for it with hope, but do not close it in grey". "Sloth, which is a real temptation against prayer and, more generally, against the Christian life, is different".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Praying is not easy and the true progress of the spiritual life "does not consist in multiplying ecstasies, but in being able to persevere in difficult times", in being able to continue walking "and if you are tired, stop for a while and then start walking "overcoming" distractions, barrenness, sloth "that hinder prayer.

The "very common difficulties" that make it difficult to pray were the subject of Pope Francis’ general audience today, which was still held in the courtyard of San Damaso. The audience was marked today by greetings, signing of autographs, exchange of skullcaps and by the long and cheerful songs of a group of Mexicans.

And in his greetings, Francis, addressed to French-speaking people, invited them to ask God for "the Spirit of consolation and peace for the tortured peoples living in difficult situations".

Speaking therefore of the "difficulties" encountered in praying, Francis observed that “The first problem that emerges to those who pray is distraction (see CCC, 2729). You start to pray and then your mind wanders, it wanders all over the place; your heart is here, your mind is there… distraction from prayer. Prayer often co-exists with distraction. Indeed, the human mind finds it hard to dwell for long on a single thought. We all experience this constant whirlwind of images and illusions in perpetual motion, which accompanies us even during sleep. And we all know that it is not good to follow this inclination to disorder.”

“Distractions are not guilty, but they must be fought. In the heritage of our faith there is a virtue that is often forgotten, but which is so present in the Gospel. It is called “vigilance”. “Jesus often calls the disciples to the duty of a sober life, guided by the thought that sooner or later He will return, like a bridegroom from a wedding or a master from a journey. But since we do not know the day and hour of His return, all the minutes of our lives are precious and should not be wasted on distractions. In a moment that we do not know, the voice of our Lord will resound: on that day, blessed will be those servants whom He will find industrious, still focused on what really matters. They did not stray in pursuit of every attraction that came before their minds, but tried to walk the right path, doing good and performing their own task.”

The time of barrenness warrants a different discourse.” “Often we do not really know the reason. Spiritual teachers describe the experience of faith as a continuous alternation of times of consolation and desolation; there are times when everything is easy, while others are marked by great heaviness. Very often, when we encounter a friend, we say, “How are you?” – “Today I am down”. Very often we are “down”, or rather, we don’t have feelings, we don’t have consolation, we are unable. They are those grey days … and there are so many of them in life! But the danger is having a grey heart: when this “feeling down” reaches the heart and it sickens… and there are people who live with a grey heart. This is terrible: one cannot pray, one cannot feel consolation with a grey heart! Or, one cannot emerge from spiritual barrenness with a grey heart. The heart must be open and luminous, so that the light of the Lord can enter. And if it does not enter, wait for it, with hope. But do not close it up in greyness.”

“Then, a different thing is sloth, another flaw, another vice, which is a real temptation against prayer and, more generally, against the Christian life, is a different matter. Sloth is “a form of depression due to lax ascetically practice, decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart” , 2733). It is one of the seven “deadly sins” because, fuelled by conceit, it can lead to the death of the soul.”

“So what can we do in this succession of enthusiasms and discouragements? One must learn to go forward always. True progress in the spiritual life does not consist in multiplying ecstasies, but in being able to persevere in difficult times: walk, walk, walk on… and if you are tired, stop a little and then start walking again. But with perseverance. Let us remember Saint Francis’ parable on perfect joy: it is not in the infinite fortunes rained down from Heaven that the ability of a friar is measured, but in walking steadily, even when one is not recognised, even when one is mistreated, even when everything has lost its initial flavour. All the saints have passed through this “dark valley”, and let us not be scandalised if, reading their diaries, we find accounts of evenings of listless prayer, lived without enthusiasm. We must learn to say: “Even though You, my God, seem to be doing everything to make me stop believing in You, I still continue to pray to You”. Believers never stop praying! It may sometimes resemble the prayer of Job, who does not accept that God treats him unjustly, protests and calls him to judgment. But, very often, even protesting before God is a way of praying”.

“And we too, who are far less holy and patient than Job, know that in the end, at the end of this time of desolation, during which we have raised to Heaven silent cries and asked “why?” many times, God will answer us. Do not forget the prayer that asks “why?”. It is the prayer of children when they begin not to understand things, which psychologists call “the why stage”, because the child asks his father, “Daddy, why? Daddy, why? Daddy, why?” But be careful: he does not listen to his father’s answer. The father starts to reply, but he interrupts with another “Why?”. He simply wants to draw his father’s attention to him; and when we get a bit angry with God and start asking why, we are attracting the heart of our Father towards our misery, towards our difficulties, towards our life. But yes, have the courage to say to God: “But why?”. Because at times, getting a bit angry is good for you, because it reawakens that son-father, daughter-father relationship we must have with God. And He will accept even our harshest and bitterest expressions with a father’s love, and will consider them as an act of faith, as a prayer.”