How Should I Pray?

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.

Prayers in the Old Testament

This is the start of the section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Prayer.  The section reviewed today looked at prayer in general, and prayer as seen in the Old Testament.

The Church requires that faithful Catholics maintain a vital and personal relationship with God; “This relationship is prayer.” 2558   “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God, or the requesting of good things from God.  Humility is the foundation of prayer.  Only when we humbly acknowledge that we do not know how to pray as we ought are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer.2559   It is he who first seeks us.  Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours.  God thirsts that we may thirst for him.  2560   Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays.  But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the sour or the spirit, but most often the heart.  According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays.”  2562  

“Even after losing through his sin his likeness to God, man remains an image of his Creator, and retains the desire for the one who calls him into existence.  All religions bear witness to men’s essential search for God.  The living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer.  In prayer, the faithful God’s initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response.  2566-7   In his indefectible covenant with every living creature, God has always called people to prayer.  But it is above all beginning with our father Abraham that prayer is revealed in the Old Testament.”  2569

“Abraham’s heart is entirely submissive to the Word.  Such attentiveness of the heart is essential to prayer.  Abraham’s prayer is expressed first by deeds … only later does Abraham’s first prayer in words appear.  One aspect of the drama of prayer appears from the beginning:  the test of faith in the fidelity of God.  2570  Once God had confided his plan, Abraham’s heart is attuned to his Lord’s compassion for men and he dares to intercede for them with bold confidence.  2571   Abraham is asked to sacrifice the son God had given him, (but) Abraham’s faith does not weaken.  … Prayer restores man to God’s likeness and enables him to share in the power of God’s love that saves the multitude.”  2572    

When God speaks to Moses, “here again the initiative is God’s.  From the midst of the burning bush he calls Moses.  … Only after long debate does Moses attune his own will to that of the Savior God.  (Over the years, ) Moses converses with God often and at length.  From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession.  He does not pray for himself but for the people whom God made his own.  2575-7

David is par excellence the king after God’s own heart, the shepherd who prays for his people and prays in their name.  His submission to the will of God, his praise, and his repentance, will be a model for the prayer of the people.”  2579   The catechism in paragraphs 2581-4 tells of the prayers of Elijah, as described in 1 Kings.  It describes how through his prayer the widow’s child is brought back to life, and how Elijah, like Moses hid in a cleft in the rock until “the mysterious presence of God has passed by.”   

“From the time of David to the coming of the Messiah texts appearing in these sacred books show a deepening in prayer for oneself and in prayer for others.  Thus the psalms were gradually collected into the five books of the Psalter (or Praises), the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament.  2585   The Psalms both nourished and expressed the prayer of the People of God gathered during the great feasts at Jerusalem and each Sabbath in the synagogues.  Prayed by Christ and fulfilled in him, the Psalms remain essential to the prayer of the Church.  2587  The Psalms are a mirror of God’s marvelous deeds in the history of his people, as well as reflections of the human experiences of the Psalmist.  Though a given psalm may reflect an event of the past, it still possesses such direct simplicity that it can be prayed in truth by men of all times and conditions.  2588   The Psalms constitute the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament.  They present two inseparable qualities:  the personal, and the communal.  They extend to all dimensions of history, recalling God’s promises already fulfilled and looking for the coming of the Messiah.”  2596

Next week we’ll do the lessons intended for October 23 and 30, the remaining articles of Chapter 1 on Prayer, and all of Chapter 2.  They will move on to the New Testament prayers, and especially those of Jesus and his apostles, and then onto how we practice today what the Bible has shown us.  

Tuesday Study Agenda: Prayer

Part Four: Christian Prayer

October 16       Section One, Chapter One, Article 1

October 23       Article 2, 3

October 30       Chapter Two, Articles 1 – 3

November 6     Chapter Three, Articles 1, 2

November 13   Article 3.  Section Two, Article 1

November 20   Article 2, Article 3, I & II

November 27   Article 3, Article 4

Pornography and Envy: Unwanted Desires

Catechism paragraphs 2514 - 2557

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbors.  Ex 20:17

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments at their heart are about greed, excesses of what we want.  It is good for man to have sexual desires or desires for things, but there is a line which can be crossed, whether we desire too much for ourselves or are envious of what our neighbor has.  These commandments have to do with temperance and modesty, limits on our wants.

“The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the biblical sense of the depths of one’s being, where the person decides for or against God.  358   The heart is the seat of moral personality: ‘Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication’ (Mt 15:19) … The struggle against carnal covetousness entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance. 2517   The sixth beatitude proclaims, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  ‘Pure in heart’ refers to those who have attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God’s holiness, chiefly in three areas: charity; chastity or sexual rectitude; love of truth and orthodoxy of faith.  2518   Even now it enables us to see according to God, to accept others as ‘neighbors’; it lets us perceive the human body – ours and our neighbor’s – as a temple of the Holy Spirit, a manifestation of divine beauty.” 2519

“The baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires.  With God’s grace he will prevail: by the virtue and gift of chastity, for chastity lets us love with upright and undivided heart; by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man; by purity of vision, by refusing all complicity in impure thoughts; and by prayer.  2520   Modesty means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden.  It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons.  Modesty is decency; it inspires one’s choice of clothing.  It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. 2521-2   Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.  2524   So-called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom; the necessary precondition for the development of true freedom is to let oneself be educated in the moral law.” 2526

“Envy is a capital sin.  It refers to the sadness at the sight of another’s goods and the immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself, even unjustly.  When it wishes harm to a neighbor it is a mortal sin. 2539   Envy comes from pride; the baptized person should train himself to live in humility. 2540   Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command.  This is what man’s first sin consisted of.  397   Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them ‘renounce all that (they have)’ for his sake and that of the Gospel (Lk 14:33).  The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven.  All Christ’s faithful are to ‘direct their affections rightly, lest they be hindered in their pursuit of perfect charity by the use of worldly things and by an adherence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical poverty.’  2544-5   The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods.  Trust in God is preparation for the blessedness of the poor.  They shall see God.  2547   It remains for the holy people to struggle, with graces from on high, to obtain the good things God promises.  In order to possess and contemplate God, Christ’s faithful mortify their cravings and, with the grace of God, prevail over the seductions of pleasure and power.”  2549

YOUCAT Q464   “What good is shame?  Many young Christians live in an environment where it is taken for granted that everything should be on display and people are systematically trained to ignore feelings of shame.  But shamelessness is inhuman.  Animals experience no shame.  In a human being, in contrast, it is an essential feature.  It does not hide something inferior but rather protects something valuable, namely, the dignity of the person in his capacity to love.  Q466:  What is envy, and how can you fight against it?  Envy is sadness and annoyance at the sight of another’s well-being …  Envy decreases when we try to rejoice more and more in the accomplishments and gifts of others.  Hate no one.  Do not be jealous.  Do not act out of envy.  Do not love quarreling.  Flee arrogance.  (St. Benedict of Nursia)

This wraps up our reading and learning the section of the catechism titled:  Life in Christ.  This section began with the beatitudes and feelings of the heart, how we should desire to live good lives.  The section ended with the Ten Commandments, the underpinnings of the beatitudes.  Accepting these and obeying the call of these, together, this is living a Life in Christ. 

The section we just finished heavily addressed how man is to live in relation to man.  Next we will pursue the last of the four sections of the catechism:  Christian Prayer --- how man is to live in relation with God.  This section talks about prayer in general, and then the specific prayer Jesus taught us, the Our Father.  On a separate blog post I will lay out the timing for proceeding through this section.