Catechism
Readings: Paragraphs 2598 – 2696
These next few sections are on the how’s and why’s and even
where’s of prayer.
“Jesus prays before
the decisive moments of his mission. 2600
Jesus often prays apart in solitude,
on a mountain, preferably at night. 2602 Two explicit prayers of Jesus were preserved
by the evangelists. Each begins with
thanksgiving. In the first, Jesus
confesses the Father, acknowledges, and blesses him because he has hidden the
mysteries of the Kingdom from those who think themselves learned and has
revealed them to infants, the poor of the Beatitudes (Mt 11:25-7). The second prayer, before the raising of
Lazarus (Jn 11:41-42) is followed by Jesus adding: ‘I know that you always hear
me,’ which implies that Jesus constantly
made such petitions. Jesus’ prayer, characterized
by thanksgiving, reveals to us how to ask:
before the gift is given,
Jesus commits himself to the One who in giving gives himself. The Giver is more precious than the gift; He
is the ‘treasure.’” 2603-4
“From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of the heart: reconciliation
with one’s brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies,
and prayer for persecutors, forgiveness from the depths of the heart. 2608
Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith.
Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand
(belief without understanding). 2609
Jesus tells us to ask in His
name. ‘Hitherto you have asked nothing
in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.’” 2615
“Blessing
expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer; it is an encounter between
God and man. 2626 Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a
creature before his Creator. It exalts
the greatness of the Lord who made us. 2628
(Prayer’s) most usual form, because the most spontaneous, is petition:
by prayer of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God. We are creatures who are not our own
beginning, not the masters of adversity. 2929 The first movement of the prayer of petition
is asking forgiveness. It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure
prayer. Asking forgiveness is the
prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer. 2631 Intercession
is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father on
the behalf of all men, especially sinners. 2634 In intercession, he who prays looks not only
to his own interests, but also to the interests of others, even to the point of
praying for those who do him harm. 2635
As in the prayer of petition, every intent and need can become an
offering of thanksgiving. The letters of St. Paul often begin and end
with thanksgiving. 2638 Praise
is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our
spirits to bear witness that we are children of God, testifying to the only Son
in whom we are adopted and by whom we glorify the Father.” 2639
“Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of
interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know what the Scriptures
reveal about prayer: one must also learn how to pray. Through a living transmission (Sacred Tradition)
within ‘the believing and praying Church,’ the Holy Spirit teaches the children
of God how to pray. 2650 The Holy Spirit is the
living water ‘welling up to eternal
life’ in the heart that prays. It is he
who teaches us to accept it at its source: Christ. Indeed in the Christian life there are
several wellsprings where Christ awaits us to enable us to drink of the Holy
Spirit: The Word of God, The Liturgy of
the Church, and through the theological virtues. 2652 The Church ‘forcefully and specially exhorts
all the Christian faithful to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ by
frequent reading of the divine Scriptures.
… Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading
of Sacred Scripture. The spiritual
writers, paraphrasing Mathew 7:7, summarize in this way the dispositions of the
heart nourished by the word of God in prayer: ‘Seek in reading and you will
find in meditating; know in mental prayer and it will be opened to you by
contemplation. 2653-4 In the sacramental liturgy of the Church,
the mission of Christ and of the Holy Spirit proclaims, makes present, and
communicates the mystery of salvation, which is continued in the heart that
prays. The spiritual writers sometimes
compare the heart to an altar. 2655
One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy: by the narrow gate of
faith. The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to
celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ’s return, teaches to pray in hope.
Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by
which we are loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving
as he has loved us. Love is the source of prayer.
2656-8 Prayer in the events of each day and each
moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom revealed to ‘little children.’” 2660
“’Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.’ The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is
the simplest way of praying always. 2667-8
Since he teaches us to pray by recalling Christ, how could we not pray
to the Spirit, too? That is why the
Church invites us to call upon the Holy Spirit every day, especially at the
beginning and the end of every important action. 2670 Jesus is the only mediator, is the way of
our prayer; Mary, his mother and ours, is wholly transparent to him: she ‘shows
the way, and is herself “the Sign” of the way’, according to the traditional iconography
of East and West. Beginning with Mary’s
unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed
their prayer to the holy Mother of God, centering it on the person of Christ
manifested in his mysteries. In
countless hymns and antiphons expressing this prayer, two movements usually
alternate with one another: the first ‘magnifies’ the Lord for the ‘great
things’ he did for his lowly servant and through her for all human beings, the
second entrust the supplications and praises of the children of God to the
Mother of Jesus, because she now knows the humanity which, in her, the Son of
God espoused.” 2675
“The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom,
especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living
tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their
writings, and their prayer today. When
they entered into the joy of their Master, they were ‘put in charge of many
things.’ (Mt 25:21) Their intercession
is their most exalted service to God’s plan.
We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world. 2583 The Christian family is the first place of
education in prayer. For young children
in particular, daily family prayer is the first witness of the Church’s living
memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit. 2685 Many religious have consecrated their whole
lives to prayer. Hermits, monks, and
nuns since the time of the desert fathers have devoted their time to praising
God and interceding for his people. 2687 The catechesis
of children, young people, and adults aims at teaching them to meditate on the
Word of God in personal prayer, practicing it in liturgical prayer, and
internalizing it at all times in order to bear fruit in a new life. The memorization of basic prayers offers an
essential support to the life of prayer, but it is important to help learners
savor their meaning. Prayer groups, indeed schools of prayer,
are today one of the signs and one of the driving forces of renewal of prayer
in the Church. 2688-9 The Holy Spirit
gives to certain of the faithful the gifts of wisdom, faith and discernment for
the sake of this common good which is prayer (spiritual direction). Men
and women so endowed are true servants of the living tradition of prayer.” 2690
“The church, the house of God, is the proper place for the
liturgical prayer of the parish community.
It is also the privileged place for adoration of the real presence of
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The
choice of a favorable place is not a matter of indifference for true
prayer. For personal prayer, this place
can be a ‘prayer corner’. In regions
where monasteries exist, the vocation of these communities is to further the
participation of the faithful in the Liturgy of the Hours, and to provide
necessary solitude for more intense personal prayer. Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward
heaven, and are traditionally very special occasions for renewal in
prayer. 2691
Next week we continue looking at prayer, focusing on the
different expressions of prayer and of the difficulties in praying effectively.
