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In the general audience, the Pope focuses on intercessory prayer, exhorting us to pray for everyone, even for those who have made mistakes or for those who do not pray: “When we pray – he says – we are in tune with God’s mercy” .
Debora Donnini – Vatican City
It is a strong invitation to the Church, especially to those who have the responsibility, to pray for all, including sinners, which Pope Francis addresses this morning, in the catechesis of the general audience that continues to be celebrated in the Library of the Apostolic Palace for the measures to contrast with the contagion of Covid – 19. It is the prayer of intercession at the center of his reflection. Silently withdrawing to pray, he emphasizes, does not mean escaping from reality, it is not so as not to get angry, but to better hear the voice of God. Prayer, in fact, must arouse the anxieties and hopes of humanity, otherwise, he warns, “It becomes a ‘decorative’, intimate”, “theatrical” activity. (Listen to the report with the voice of the Pope)
Prayer becomes the heart and voice of those who do not pray
It is important “a concrete sentence, which is not an escape”. Because it is precisely in prayer that every Christian is called to become “bread broken and shared.” Therefore, the door of the heart must be kept open, even for those who do not pray, but carry a gasp, for those who have made a mistake:
Anyone can knock on the door of a person who prays and find in them a compassionate heart that prays without excluding anyone. Prayer is our heart and our voice, and it becomes the heart and voice of so many people who do not know how to pray or do not pray or do not want to pray or cannot pray: we are the heart and the voice of these people who stand up Jesus , go up to the Father as intercessors. In the solitude of the one who prays, both the solitude of a long time and the solitude of half an hour, to pray, we separate ourselves from everything and everyone to find everything and everyone in God.
Those who don’t love pretend to pray
Then the Pope emphasizes the deep link between prayer and love:
Who does not love his brother, does not pray seriously. It can be said: with a spirit of hatred you cannot pray; with a spirit of indifference one cannot pray. Only prayer is given in a spirit of love. He who does not love pretends to pray, or thinks he is praying, but does not pray, because the very spirit that is love is missing. In the Church, those who know the sadness or joy of the other go deeper than those who investigate the “maximum systems”. That is why there is an experience of the human in every sentence, because people, no matter how much they make mistakes, should never be rejected or discarded.
Pray with humility, not with pride
Therefore, it is necessary to pray not making judgments of condemnation, but for everyone. And the Pope emphasizes what the attitude of those who pray should be: that of feeling sinful among sinners, aware of not being better than anyone, as shown by the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector and, therefore, asking the Lord to have mercy on us. . In fact, prayer is fruitful when done humbly, without feeling superior. “This is not prayer: this is looking in the mirror,” he remarks, “made of pride.”
In tune with God’s mercy
Those who pray, then, carry pain and sins on their shoulders and pray for everyone. “It is as if it were an ‘antenna’ of God in this world” and in every person “whoever prays sees the face of Christ”, he explains. In fact, as the Catechism recalls: interceding is “the prerogative of a heart in harmony with the mercy of God.”
This is beautiful. When we pray we are in tune with God’s mercy. Mercy for our sins, which is merciful to us, but also mercy for all those who have asked to pray for them, who [per i quali] we want to pray in harmony with the heart of God, this is true prayer. In tune with God’s mercy, that merciful heart.
The Pope recalls that “Christ is an intercessor before the Father, prays for us and prays showing the Father the wounds on his hands, because Jesus physically, with his body, is before the Father”. Therefore, “to pray is to do something like Jesus: intercede in Jesus to the Father, for others.”
The chain of prayers the world moves on
It is a central prayer for the world:
The world continues thanks to this chain of interceding prayers, most of which are unknown… but not to God! There are many unknown Christians who, in times of persecution, knew how to repeat the words of our Lord: “Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.”
We pray for each other
The Good Shepherd, in fact, remains faithful even in the face of the errors of his own people and perseveres in his service even “towards those who lead him to get his hands dirty”, who “made him suffer”. The Church, therefore, has the mission of practicing intercessory prayer, “like Abraham and Moses,” which at times must “defend” before God the people he has entrusted to them, looking at them, in reality, with eyes and heart. of God “with his invincible compassion and tenderness.” And the Pope concludes by offering a significant image: “We are all leaves of the same tree: each detachment reminds us of the great piety that we must nurture, in prayer, for one another” “Let us pray for each other – he says – it will do us good and it will do good to all”.
May the difficulties of Christmas this year help us to live it more authentically
In the greetings, the strong call of the Pope to “‘accelerate the step’ towards Christmas, the true – he says – that is, the birth of Jesus Christ.” Aware that this year there will be restrictions and inconveniences, he urges us to think about the Christmas of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. “They weren’t roses and flowers!” He says, thinking of the many difficulties and worries they had..
However, faith, hope, and love guided and supported them. May it be so for us too! Help us also – this difficulty – to refine a little the way we live Christmas, celebrate, leave consumerism behind: make it more religious, more authentic, more true.
