Taking up week two of his new series of catecheses on the Mass, Pope Francis today underlined what he called a “simple aspect” of his theme: the Mass as prayer.
It is prayer par excellence, he said, “the highest, the most sublime and, at the same time, the most ‘concrete.'”
The pope then went on to consider what prayer actually is. It is a dialogue, he explained, a personal relationship with the Lord, for which we were all created.
The Holy Father then went on to discuss four elements that are necessary for prayer:
1. Silence, because every dialogue requires silence.
“And from God’s mysterious silence gushes His Word, which echoes in our hearts. Jesus Himself teaches us how it is really possible to be with the Father and He demonstrates it with His prayer.”
2. Knowing how to call God our Father
“We must learn to say Father, that is, to put ourselves in His presence with filial confidence.
3. Trust and confidence, as a child
“Children know how to trust, they know someone will take care of them, of what they will eat, of what they will wear and so on …”
4. Also as a child, allowing oneself to be surprised by God
A child “marvels even at small things, because everything is new to him. To enter in the Kingdom of Heaven it is necessary to let oneself be surprised … Do we let ourselves be surprised by God who is always a God of surprises? Because an encounter with the Lord is always an encounter with someone living, it’s not an encounter of [something in a] museum. And we’re going to Mass, not to a museum. We go to a living encounter with the Lord.”
And today we celebrate...