Pope Leo XIV lamented yesterday that prayer is no longer being passed on in many Christian families and urged the faithful to rediscover it as a fundamental dimension of human life. Source: EWTN News.
“In our time, in contexts dominated by an efficiency-driven and consumerist mindset, prayer may seem pointless and trivial,” the Pope said during his general audience yesterday.
“In a world where science and technology claim to provide all the answers, praying may appear to be a form of escapism,” he continued.
Pope Leo resumed his weekly public audience after suspending most of his official schedule during the traditional July summer break. Because of Rome’s high summer temperatures, the audience was held inside St Peter’s Basilica.
Continuing his catechetical series on the Second Vatican Council, the Pope focused on the ecclesial dimension of liturgical prayer as presented in the conciliar constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium.
He warned that prayer is increasingly misunderstood, including within Christian homes.
“Furthermore, even in many Christian families, the tradition of prayer is no longer passed on, whilst many people risk confusing it with just another technique, of a psychological nature aimed at personal well-being,” he said.
“Prayer, however, as a fundamental dimension of our humanity, is worth rediscovering in its true form.”
Pope Leo said Sacrosanctum Concilium took this need seriously. He recalled the words of St Paul VI when the constitution became the first document promulgated by the Second Vatican Council on December 4, 1963.
“God comes first; prayer is our primary duty; the liturgy is the primary source of the divine life communicated to us, the primary school of our spiritual life,” Paul VI said at the time.
Leo explained that the word “prayer” in the constitution refers to the liturgy as a whole. This understanding, he said, proved decisive in guiding the liturgical reform and placing the active participation of the faithful at its centre.
“The liturgy is presented first and foremost as the place of encounter, of God’s initiative in drawing near to humanity in his Son, ‘the Word made flesh, anointed by the Holy Spirit,’” the Pope said.
He recalled St Paul VI’s desire that the Liturgy of the Hours – the Church’s daily public prayer, which is inseparable from the Eucharist – would permeate, enliven, and guide all Christian prayer.
He said the Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the different moments of ordinary life and can serve as a practical school for those learning how to pray.
“To the many people who wish to learn to pray, especially catechumens, it can offer the path and the school of Christian prayer,” he said.
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Pope Leo XIV warns prayer is disappearing from Christian families (By Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News)
