Our Prayerful Pope Calls the Whole Church to Learn the Way of Prayer
departs from his soul. Whether he is eating or drinking or sleeping or whatever else he is doing, even in deepest sleep, the fragrance of prayer rises without effort in his heart. Prayer never again deserts him.
"At every moment of his life, even when it appears to stop, it is secretly at work in him continuously, one of the Fathers, the bearers of Christ, says that prayer is the silence of the pure. For their thoughts are divine motions. The movements of the heart and the intellect that have been purified are the voices full of sweetness with which such people never cease to sing in secret to the hidden God."
In June, at another Wednesday Catechetical session, our prayerful Pope gave another instruction on prayer. He told the pilgrims "every prayer always expresses the truth of human creatures, who on the one hand experience a certain weakness and indigence and who, therefore, ask assistance from heaven and, on the other, who are endowed with an extraordinary dignity because able to prepare themselves to receive divine Revelation, discovering themselves capable of entering into communion with God.
"Persons of every age pray because they cannot stop asking themselves the meaning of their existence, which remains obscure and discouraging if they are unable to enter into relationship with the mystery of God and His plan for the world. Human life is a mixture of good and evil, of unwarranted suffering and of joy and beauty that, spontaneously and irresistibly, move us to ask God for the inner light and strength to sustain us on earth, revealing a hope that goes beyond the limits of death".
Our prayerful Pope is calling the whole church to prayer. He is correct, of course, "Jesus reveals the mystery of prayer". His Vicar named Benedict reminds us all that "while prayer is a gift of God, it is also an art learned through constant practice. Jesus teaches us to pray constantly, but also to bear witness before others of the beauty of prayer, self-surrender and complete openness to God."
- - -
Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
Keywords: Pope benedict XVI, prayer, contemplative prayer, devotion, angelus, wednesday catechesis, Vatican, spirituality, mystics, contemplative, meditation, Deacon Keith Fournier
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Great article! More to come? I Love Our Pope's books. Knowledge and Prayer flow...like a serene river. David Carlon: Beautiful! Blessings...
In these last days The Lord has shown mercy on his Chosen people by providing us with another living saint... Long live PB16!
My heart flutters in silent song and adoration... as tears of uncontainable joy slowly roll down my cheeks... as my body and its senses and my soul and all its faculties adore all that is Good and Holy within me and the Chosen. It is no longer my heart that I hear beating within me but my Savior's Sacred Heart who has come to dwell within his living tabernacle.
Moses was a messiah, he was a messiah to the Hebrew slaves being exploited by the Egyptians, but he wasn't "the" messiah, the "messiah" expected to arrive in order to lead the Hebrews from ultimate oppression for all future. This must not take anything away from Moses, himself, who was a really wonderful hero. He basked fully in God's love.
Moses received messages from God, but he was not our Messiah. He was a killer and a great leader, a liberator, and a member of a judiciary. When Jesus, Jeshua, conducted His ministry, he established a new convenant between the Lord Jehovah and the earthly world. In the past, the Hebrews had sacrificed first-born animals as offerings to the Lord. Giving us the New Covenant, Jesus, Jeshua, gave Himslef as a sacrifice, being a first-born.He made all the other ritual sacrifices of the Hebrews redundant. He became the agnus dei, the Lamb of God. Jesus did not believe in capital punishment. He presented the population with a new reading of the Decologue, which clearly states "Thou shalt not kill".
very interesting articles.please keep on.It is very helpfull to all christian.Cheers.
Life in the garden of Eden is a state of prefect prayer. God will provide all our bodily needs and ensure that the mind knows no fear. The fig leaf is not a dress code in God's eyes. In crucifixion, he was clothed as was the custom but, every thing he left behind. The garden of Gethsemane will lead you to a perfect state of prayer.
The most important aspect of our relationship with GOD, is our openness to Him ,never to hide anything from Him. The day Adam & Eve hid themselves from GOD can said to be the saddest day, a day unworthy of remembrance with dire consequences seen till day. But then Sin becomes that very constraint. Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us of our sins, without whom there is no way any man can be with The Father,unblemished- The essential requirement. In the wilderness Israel worshiped GOD through idols, which happens even today. This is clearly an Abomination unto GOD, 'cause it is a wedge between GOD & Man in the relationship. Likewise proven in the Garden of Eden, GOD does not want anything to stand in between, in the communion. A clear indication of His Love to us. Idol worships & idolatry in all its manifestations are means of covering sins & deceitfully showing allegiance to Him, to do the desires of the flesh - the root of Paganism. Accepting Jesus by our hearts is the essence of learning to pray.
PRAYER IS LINK BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANITY WHICH CONFIRM ACT OF FAITH.