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2558
- "Great is the mystery of the faith!"
- The Church professes this
mystery in the Apostles' Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the
sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be
conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father
(Part Three).
- This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in
it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and
personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is
prayer.
For me, prayer is a surge of the heart;
it is a simple look turned toward
heaven,
it is a cry of recognition and of love,
embracing both trial and
joy.[1]
Prayer as God's gift
2559 "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the
requesting of good things from God."[2]
But when we pray, do we speak from
the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and
contrite heart?[3]
He who humbles himself will be exalted;[4] humility is
the foundation of prayer,
Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not
know how to pray as we ought,"[5] are we ready to receive freely the gift
of prayer.
"Man is a beggar before God."[6]
2560 "If you knew the gift of God!"[7]
The wonder of prayer is revealed
beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet
every human being.
It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink.
Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God's desire for 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.[8]
2561 "You would have asked him, and he would have given you living
water."[9]
Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea
of the living God:
"They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no
water!"[10]
Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of
salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of
God.[11]
Prayer as covenant
2562 Where does prayer come from?
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 soul or the spirit, but most
often of the heart (more than a thousand times).
According to Scripture,
it is the heart that prays.
If our heart is far from God, the words of
prayer are in vain.
2563 The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according
to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I
withdraw."
The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason
and of others;
only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know
it fully.
The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic
drives.
It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death.
It is the
place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation:
it is the
place of covenant.
2564 Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in
Christ.
It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the
Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with
the human will of the Son of God made man.
Prayer as communion
2565 In the New Covenant, prayer is the living relationship of the
children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son
Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit.
The grace of the Kingdom is "the
union of the entire holy and royal Trinity . . . with the whole human
spirit."[12]
Thus, the life of prayer is the habit of being in the
presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him.
This communion
of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been
united with Christ.[13]
Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion
with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body.
Its
dimensions are those of Christ's love.[14]
ENDNOTES
1 St. Therese of Lisieux, Manuscrits autobiographiques, C 25r.
2 St. John Damascene, Defide orth. 3, 24: PG 94,1089C.
3 Ps 130:1.
4 Cf. Lk 18:9-14.
5 Rom 8:26.
6 St. Augustine, Sermo 56, 6, 9: PL 38, 381.
7 Jn 4:10.
8 Cf. St. Augustine De diversis quaestionibus octoginta tribus 64, 4: PL
40, 56.
9 Jn 4:10.
10 Jer 2:13.
11 Cf. Jn 7:37-39; 19:28; Isa 12:3; 51:1; Zech 12:10; 13:1.
12 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio, 16, 9: PG 35, 945.
13 Cf. Rom 6:5.
14 Cf. Eph 3:18-21.
2566 Man is in search of God. In the act of creation, God calls every
being from nothingness into existence. "Crowned with glory and honor," man
is, after the angels, capable of acknowledging "how majestic is the name
of the Lord in all the earth."[1] 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.[2]
2567 God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his
face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him;
yet 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. As God gradually reveals himself and reveals man to himself,
prayer appears as a reciprocal call, a covenant drama. Through words and
actions, this drama engages the heart. It unfolds throughout the whole
history of salvation.
2568 In the Old Testament, the revelation of prayer comes between the fall
and the restoration of man, that is, between God's sorrowful call to his
first children: "Where are you? . . . What is this that you have done?"[3]
and the response of God's only Son on coming into the world: "Lo, I have
come to do your will, O God."[4] Prayer is bound up with human history,
for it is the relationship with God in historical events.
Creation - source of prayer
2569 Prayer is lived in the first place beginning with the realities of
creation. The first nine chapters of Genesis describe this relationship
with God as an offering of the first-born of Abel's flock, as the
invocation of the divine name at the time of Enosh, and as "walking with
God.[5] Noah's offering is pleasing to God, who blesses him and through
him all creation, because his heart was upright and undivided; Noah, like
Enoch before him, "walks with God."[6] This kind of prayer is lived by
many righteous people in all religions.
In his indefectible covenant with every living creature,[7] 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.
God's promise and the prayer of Faith
2570 When God calls him, Abraham goes forth "as the Lord had told him";[8]
Abraham's heart is entirely submissive to the Word and so he obeys. Such
attentiveness of the heart, whose decisions are made according to God's
will, is essential to prayer, while the words used count only in relation
to it. Abraham's prayer is expressed first by deeds: a man of silence, he
constructs an altar to the Lord at each stage of his journey. Only later
does Abraham's first prayer in words appear: a veiled complaint reminding
God of his promises which seem unfulfilled.[9] Thus one aspect of the
drama of prayer appears from the beginning: the test of faith in the
fidelity of God.
2571 Because Abraham believed in God and walked in his presence and in
covenant with him,[10] the patriarch is ready to welcome a mysterious
Guest into his tent. Abraham's remarkable hospitality at Mamre
foreshadows the annunciation of the true Son of the promise.[11] After
that, 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.[12]
2572 As a final stage in the purification of his faith, Abraham, "who had
received the promises,"[13] is asked to sacrifice the son God had given
him. Abraham's faith does not weaken ("God himself will provide the lamb
for a burnt offering."), for he "considered that God was able to raise men
even from the dead."[14] And so the father of believers is conformed to
the likeness of the Father who will not spare his own Son but wiLl deliver
him up for us all.[15] Prayer restores man to God's likeness and enables
him to share in the power of God's love that saves the multitude.[16]
2573 God renews his promise to Jacob, the ancestor of the twelve tribes of
Israel.[17] Before confronting his elder brother Esau, Jacob wrestles all
night with a mysterious figure who refuses to reveal his name, but he
blesses him before leaving him at dawn. From this account, the spiritual
tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of
faith and as the triumph of perseverance.[18]
Moses and the prayer of the mediator
2574 Once the promise begins to be fulfilled (Passover, the Exodus, the
gift of the Law, and the ratification of the covenant), the prayer of
Moses becomes the most striking example of intercessory prayer, which will
be fulfilled in "the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus."[19]
2575 Here again the initiative is God's. From the midst of the burning
bush he calls Moses.[20] This event will remain one of the primordial
images of prayer in the spiritual tradition of Jews and Christians alike.
When "the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob" calls Moses to be his
servant, it is because he is the living God who wants men to live. God
reveals himself in order to save them, though he does not do this alone or
despite them: he caLls Moses to be his messenger, an associate in his
compassion, his work of salvation. There is something of a divine plea in
this mission, and only after long debate does Moses attune his own will to
that of the Savior God. But in the dialogue in which God confides in him,
Moses also learns how to pray: he balks, makes excuses, above all
questions: and it is in response to his question that the Lord confides
his ineffable name, which will be revealed through his mighty deeds.
2576 "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks
to his friend."[21] Moses' prayer is characteristic of contemplative
prayer by which God's servant remains faithful to his mission. Moses
converses with God often and at length, climbing the mountain to hear and
entreat him and coming down to the people to repeat the words of his God
for their guidance. Moses "is entrusted with all my house. With him I
speak face to face, clearly, not in riddles," for "Moses was very humble,
more so than anyone else on the face of the earth."[22]
2577 From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love,[23] Moses drew strength and determination for his
intercession. He does not pray for himself but for the people whom God
made his own. Moses already intercedes for them during the battle with the
Amalekites and prays to obtain healing for Miriam.[24] But it is chiefly
after their apostasy that Moses "stands in the breach" before God in order
to save the people.[25] The arguments of his prayer - for intercession is
also a mysterious battle - will inspire the boldness of the great
intercessors among the Jewish people and in the Church: God is love; he is
therefore righteous and faithful; he cannot contradict himself; he must
remember his marvellous deeds, since his glory is at stake, and he cannot
forsake this people that bears his name.
David and the prayer of the king
2578 The prayer of the People of God flourishes in the shadow of God's
dwelling place, first the ark of the covenant and later the Temple. At
first the leaders of the people - the shepherds and the prophets - teach
them to pray. The infant Samuel must have learned from his mother Hannah
how "to stand before the LORD" and from the priest Eli how to listen to
his word: "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening."[26] Later, he will
also know the cost and consequence of intercession: "Moreover, as for me,
far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray
for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way."[27]
2579 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. His prayer, the prayer of God's Anointed, is a
faithful adherence to the divine promise and expresses a loving and joyful
trust in God, the only King and Lord.[28] In the Psalms David, inspired by
the Holy Spirit, is the first prophet of Jewish and Christian prayer. The
prayer of Christ, the true Messiah and Son of David, will reveal and
fulfill the meaning of this prayer.
2580 The Temple of Jerusalem, the house of prayer that David wanted to
build, will be the work of his son, Solomon. The prayer at the dedication
of the Temple relies on God's promise and covenant, on the active presence
of his name among his People, recalling his mighty deeds at the
Exodus.[29] The king lifts his hands toward heaven and begs the Lord, on
his own behalf, on behalf of the entire people, and of the generations yet
to come, for the forgiveness of their sins and for their daily needs, so
that the nations may know that He is the only God and that the heart of
his people may belong wholly and entirely to him.
Elijah, the prophets and conversion of heart
2581 For the People of God, the Temple was to be the place of their
education in prayer: pilgrimages, feasts and sacrifices, the evening
offering, the incense, and the bread of the Presence ("shewbread") - all
these signs of the holiness and glory of God Most High and Most Near were
appeals to and ways of prayer. But ritualism often encouraged an
excessively external worship. The people needed education in faith and
conversion of heart; this was the mission of the prophets, both before and
after the Exile.
2582 Elijah is the "father" of the prophets, "the generation of those who
seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob."[30] Elijah's name, "The
Lord is my God," foretells the people's cry in response to his prayer on
Mount Carmel.[31] St. James refers to Elijah in order to encourage us to
pray: "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."[32]
2583 After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi
Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in The Word of God
and confirms her faith by his urgent prayer: God brings the widow's child
back to life.[33]
The sacrifice on Mount Carmel is a decisive test for the faith of the
People of God. In response to Elijah's plea, "Answer me, O LORD, answer
me," the Lord's fire consumes the holocaust, at the time of the evening
oblation. The Eastern liturgies repeat Elijah's plea in the Eucharistic
epiclesis.
Finally, taking the desert road that leads to the place where the living
and true God reveals himself to his people, Elijah, like Moses before him,
hides "in a cleft of he rock" until the mysterious presence of God has
passed by.[34] But only on the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses
and Elijah behold the unveiled face of him whom they sought; "the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God [shines] in the face of Christ,"
crucified and risen.[35]
2584 In their "one to one" encounters with God, the prophets draw light
and strength for their mission. Their prayer is not flight from this
unfaithful world, but rather attentiveness to The Word of God. At times
their prayer is an argument or a complaint, but it is always an
intercession that awaits and prepares for the intervention of the Savior
God, the Lord of history.[36]
The Psalms, the prayer of the assembly
2585 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.[37] Thus the psalms were gradually collected into the five
books of the Psalter (or "Praises"), the masterwork of prayer in the Old
Testament.
2586 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. Their prayer is inseparably personal and communal; it
concerns both those who are praying and all men. The Psalms arose from the
communities of the Holy Land and the Diaspora, but embrace all creation.
Their prayer recalls the saving events of the past, yet extends into the
future, even to the end of history; it commemorates the promises God has
already kept, and awaits the Messiah who will fulfill them definitively.
Prayed by Christ and fulfilled in him, the Psalms remain essential to the
prayer of the Church.[38]
2587 The Psalter is the book in which The Word of God becomes man's
prayer. In other books of the Old Testament, "the words proclaim [God's]
works and bring to light the mystery they contain."[39] The words of the
Psalmist, sung for God, both express and acclaim the Lord's saving works;
the same Spirit inspires both God's work and man's response. Christ will
unite the two. In him, the psalms continue to teach us how to pray.
2588 The Psalter's many forms of prayer take shape both in the liturgy of
the Temple and in the human heart. Whether hymns or prayers of lamentation
or thanksgiving, whether individual or communal, whether royal chants,
songs of pilgrimage or wisdom meditations, 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.
2589 Certain constant characteristics appear throughout the Psalms:
simplicity and spontaneity of prayer; the desire for God himself through
and with all that is good in his creation; the distraught situation of the
believer who, in his preferential love for the Lord, is exposed to a host
of enemies and temptations, but who waits upon what the faithful God will
do, in the certitude of his love and in submission to his will. The prayer
of the psalms is always sustained by praise; that is why the title of this
collection as handed down to us is so fitting: "The Praises." Collected
for the assembly's worship, the Psalter both sounds the call to prayer and
sings the response to that call: Hallelu-Yah! ("Alleluia"), "Praise the
Lord!"
What is more pleasing than a psalm? David expresses it well: "Praise the
Lord, for a psalm is good: let there be praise of our God with gladness
and grace!" Yes, a psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people, praise
of God, the assembly's homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks
for all, the voice of the Church, a confession of faith in song.[40]
IN BRIEF
2590 "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the
requesting of good things from God" (St. John Damascene, Defide orth. 3,
24: PG 94, 1089C).
2591 God tirelessly calls each person to this mysterious encounter with
Himself. Prayer unfolds throughout the whole history of salvation as a
reciprocal call between God and man.
2592 The prayer of Abraham and Jacob is presented as a battle of faith
marked by trust in God's faithfulness and by certitude in the victory
promised to perseverance.
2593 The prayer of Moses responds to the living God's initiative for the
salvation of his people. It foreshadows the prayer of intercession of the
unique mediator, Christ Jesus.
2594 The prayer of the People of God flourished in the shadow of the
dwelling place of God's presence on earth, the ark of the covenant and the
Temple, under the guidance of their shepherds, especially King David, and
of the prophets.
2595 The prophets summoned the people to conversion of heart and, while
zealously seeking the face of God, like Elijah, they interceded for the
people.
2596 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.
2597 Prayed and fulfilled in Christ, the Psalms are an essential and
permanent element of the prayer of the Church. They are suitable for men
of every condition and time.
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