In this time of preparation for the 2025 Jubilee, we are all called to be and to make ourselves pilgrims of hope. Pope Francis has mapped out a path for us to follow and asks us to dedicate the year 2024, which is now fast approaching, to prayer.
In response to the Pope’s invitation and to a desire present in many hearts, we are pleased to present to you, through several blog posts, one of our latest publications, dedicated specifically to prayer.
A completely new book about prayer
Another book about prayer?! This might be the reaction one could have, and one that the Author himself imagines in the introductory pages, but we assure you that this is a completely new book about prayer, a book made up of questions and answers that can be seen as “keys” capable of opening the door to our hearts and showing us:
- the meaning of prayer;
- prayer as an encounter with God;
- the ways, times, and places of prayer;
- who helps us in prayer;
- the models and tools for prayer.
- A book that ultimately gives us a genuine method of prayer, because it is animated by one certainty: without seeking God and speaking with him, we cannot be happy.
Prayer is an encounter
The author, Father Patrizio Sciadini, a Discalced Carmelite, begins his journey “into” prayer by going to the roots of a need that has always been inherent in human beings: the need to encounter God and to be able to speak with him: “Human beings have always wondered where they can encounter God, and have always sought him with their intelligence and awareness of the mystery, trying to identify the ‘places’ where it is easier to enter into communion with the creator of the universe.”
Where do we Catholics encounter God?
“We who have the joy of having faith know that the most beautiful image of God is precisely ourselves, each of us, created in his image and likeness (Gen 1:26). Of course, we encounter God in his word and in the Eucharist, but precisely because we were created in his image and likeness, we can also encounter him within our hearts, the true sanctuary where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell,” the Author suggests to us. Our heart then becomes the center of the encounter, the center and the “place” of prayer.
How do we speak with God?
“We speak with God by listening to his word and responding to it. This is called dialogue with
God and dialogue with God is called prayer. Prayer takes place only when God speaks to our heart and we speak to the heart of God.”
And then we must not forget that we can often speak - and therefore also pray - in silence: prayer does not always coincide with words: “A look conveys more than many words, and there are silences that have the power to say so much, more than all the books that can be written. […] Each of us must seek our own words, silences, and gestures with which to speak to God. Thinking about God is praying; thinking about someone we love or want to love is praying. We call all this prayer.”
If you would like to continue reflecting with us on prayer, don't miss the next article, in which, starting from the book The Path of Prayer, we will reflect on how to pray well and how we can overcome obstacles to prayer.
If you would like, share your experience with us of the power and beauty of prayer!
