I was struck by Pope Francis’ decision to declare 2024 the Year of Prayer, in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025 with the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope”. To hope it is necessary to pray: it is certainly not something vague or abstract. Praying is an act of the whole person, body, soul and spirit. Christian spirituality is concrete. I offer some points:
To pray is to recover the relationship with God and to revive faith.
Truly, prayer is the discovery of the simple truth that God loves and seeks each of us, gives us his very life. We can respond. How is prayer for me the nourishment of the life of faith?
As disciples we ask Jesus to teach us to pray.
The subject of prayer is “the holy operation of the Spirit of the Lord” in us. We need to start from here and also ask for the help of the Virgin Mary who according to St. Francis is profoundly united with the Holy Spirit. Do I still ask for the daily bread of prayer?
Prayer also remains a struggle, against our idolatrous “ego” that wants to remain at the center of everything. Do I recognize that the exodus from my “ego” is necessary for me to truly live?
Prayer needs space and particular times.
We cannot simply say that our work and service are prayer. This is true, but on condition that there are constant times for listening to the word of God and dialogue with Him. What do I think regarding this?
Prayer is a deeply personal and therefore communal reality.
Prayer helps us to believe and we can only believe by praying. If prayer dies, faith languishes, communion crumbles. What is there really inside our conflicts and lack of charity?
Prayer and faith are simply at the heart of our evangelical option as brothers and minors. I continually see how urgent it is among us to rediscover and to faithfully practice prayer, the source of our life and our joy.
I’m not talking about religious habits and rituals that have often become asphyxiated and formal. I speak of that desire which touches the deepest dimension of our being and therefore the relationship with the God of life. We often pray little and pray badly, and therefore we believe little and badly. Consequently, we succeed little and badly to recognize what the Spirit asks of us today. Let’s not fool ourselves. There is no rediscovery and reform of our life that does not start from here, Let’s try to rediscover the centrality of prayer and we will be surprised at how we will live and act as a brotherhood. Let’s dare more.
