Jesus
learned to pray in his family and in the synagogue. Yet Jesus broke through the
boundaries of traditional prayer. His prayer demonstrates a union with his
Father in heaven that is possible only to someone who is the Son of God.
[2598-2599]
Jesus,
who was God and man at the same time, grew up like other Jewish children of his
time amid the rituals and prayer formulas of his people, Israel. Nevertheless,
as the story of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple demonstrated (Lk
2:41ff.), there was something in him that could not be learned: an original,
profound, and unique union with God, his Father in heaven.
Like all other men,
Jesus hoped for another world, a hereafter, and prayed to God. At the same
time, though, he was also part of that hereafter. This occasion already showed
that one day people would pray to Jesus, acknowledge him as God, and ask for
his grace.
“Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s
house?” Lk 2:49
To pray means to think lovingly about Jesus.
Prayer is the soul’s attention that is concentrated on Jesus. The more you love
Jesus, the better you pray.
BL. CHARLES DE FOUCAULD
(1858-1916)
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