Pope: terrorism seeks to compromise fraternal collaboration between faiths
Because of the contagion "we must be very careful with the recommendations of the political and healthcare authorities". Prayer is "the rudder that guides Jesus' course", it is "above all listening to and meeting God", it is "an art to be practiced with insistence", it is "the place where one perceives that everything comes from God and returns to Him” it is “abandoning oneself into the hands of the Father”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis today repeated his closeness to the "defenceless victims of terrorism that is spreading in Europe", citing the attacks in Nice and Vienna, acts that " with violence and hatred seek to compromise fraternal collaboration between religions”.
His reflection on the victims of terrorism came at the end of a general audience that was returned, "unfortunately" as he himself said, to the private library "to defend ourselves from Covid infections", for which "we must be very careful with the prescriptions of the authorities, the political and healthcare authorities".
In his catechesis, continuing the cycle of catechesis on prayer, Francis spoke of "Jesus teacher of prayer", highlighting that prayer is "the rudder that guides Jesus' course", it is "above all listening to and meeting with God", it is “An art to be practiced with insistence”, it is “the place where one perceives that everything comes from God and returns to Him”, it is “abandoning oneself into the hands of the Father”.
“During his public life - he said - Jesus constantly makes use of the power of prayer. The Gospels show this to us when He retires to secluded places to pray. These are sober and discreet observations, which allow us only to imagine those prayerful dialogues. They clearly demonstrate, however, that even at times of greater dedication to the poor and the sick, Jesus never neglected His intimate dialogue with the Father.”
"In Jesus’ life there is therefore a secret, hidden from human eyes, which is the fulcrum of everything. Jesus’ prayer is a mysterious reality, of which we intuit only something, but which allows us to interpret His entire mission from the right perspective."
" Charting Jesus’ path is the least comfortable way, but it is the one that obeys the Father’s inspiration, which Jesus listens to and welcomes in His solitary prayer. The Catechism affirms that “When Jesus prays He is already teaching us how to pray” (no. 2607). Therefore, from Jesus’ example we can derive some characteristics of Christian prayer. First and foremost, it possesses a primacy: it is the first desire of the day, something that is practised at dawn, before the world awakens. It restores a soul to that which otherwise would be without breath. A day lived without prayer risks transforming into a bothersome or tedious experience: all that happens to us could turn into a badly endured and blind fate. Jesus instead educates in obedience to reality and, therefore, in listening. Prayer is primarily listening and encountering God.”
Prayer, therefore, “is primarily listening and encountering God. The problems of everyday life, then, do not become obstacles, but appeals from God Himself to listen to and encounter those who are in front of us. The trials of life thus change into opportunities to grow in faith and charity. The daily journey, including hardships, acquires the perspective of a “vocation”. Prayer has the power to transform into good what in life would otherwise be a condemnation; it has the power to open a great horizon to the mind and to broaden the heart.”
"Secondly, prayer is an art to be practised with insistence. We are all capable of episodic prayers, which arise from a momentary emotion; but Jesus educates us in another type of prayer: the one that knows a discipline, an exercise, and assumed as part of a rule of life. Consistent prayer produces a progressive transformation, makes us strong in times of tribulation, gives us the grace to be supported by Him who loves us and always protects us.”
"Another characteristic of Jesus’ prayer is solitude. Those who pray do not escape from the world, but prefer deserted places. There, in silence, many voices can emerge that we hide in our innermost selves: the most removed desires, the truths that we insist on suffocating. And, above all, in silence God speaks. Every person needs a space for him- or herself, to be able to cultivate the inner life, where actions find meaning. Without inner life we become superficial, agitated, and anxious; we escape from reality, and also from ourselves".
“Jesus' prayer is the place where we perceive that everything comes from God and returns to Him. Sometimes we human beings believe ourselves to be masters of everything, or on the contrary, we lose all self-esteem. Prayer helps us to find the right dimension in our relationship with God, our Father, and with all creation."
“And finally, Jesus' prayer is to abandon oneself into the hands of the Father. Like Jesus in the Garden of Olives ".
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