Posted on 10/28/2013 5:43:01 AM PDT by markomalley
At the centre of Pope Francis’ homily on Monday morning was the passage from the Gospel of Luke during which Jesus remained in prayer throughout the whole night before choosing the twelve apostles, and he pointed out that Jesus continues to pray and to intercede for us.
Speaking to those gathered at Casa Santa Marta for Mass, the Pope said that by praying to God to choose his apostles, Jesus was “putting together his team together” – and afterwards a great number of people came to be with Him and to be healed by Him, because “power was coming Him and healing them all”. And he referred to three different rapports Jesus has: “Jesus and the Father, Jesus and his Apostles, Jesus and the people”. And the Pope pointed out that “Jesus prayed to the Father for the Apostles and for the people”. And he said: he is still praying.
Jesus has saved us, he said, with his prayers, with his sacrifice, with his life. He is gone now and he continues to pray – the Pope said – but does that mean that Jesus is a spirit? Jesus – he underlined – is not a spirit! He is a person, a man with flesh like our flesh, but in the glory of God. He said Jesus has wounds on his hands, on his feet and on his side. And when he prays he shows the Father the price of our salvation. Pope Francis said: “it is as if he is saying: Father, may this not be lost!”
So prayer stems from Jesus who prays and intercede for us.
“We often say to each other: pray for me. I need prayers. I have so many problems”. And that is good – Francis pointed out – “because we are brothers and we must pray for each other”.
And the Pope says he prays to Jesus to pray for him and intercede for him.
He concluded saying that He prays for all of us, and he does so courageously, showing the Father the price of our redemption: his wounds.
We must think about this – concluded the Pope – and we must thank the Lord. We must thank him for giving us a brother who prays for us and intercedes for us. And speaking to Jesus we must say: “Lord, you have saved me. And now pray for me”. “It is to him we must entrust our problems, our life and many other things so that He may take them to the Father”.
Pope: Jesus continues to pray for us even today showing the Father his woundsJesus has saved us, giving his life, and still continues to pray for us", and when he prays to the Father he shows "his wounds", the price of our justification, and prays for us, as if to say "Father, let this not be lost!".
This is the lesson that Pope Francis found in today's Gospel passage at Mass in Casa Santa Marta in which Jesus spends the whole night in prayer to the Father before choosing the twelve apostles.
As reported by Vatican Radio in Italian, the Pope said that "Jesus chooses his team" and soon after is surrounded by a great multitude of people "who came to hear Him and be healed" because "power came forth from him and healed them all". They are the "Jesus' three relationships", "Jesus with the Father, Jesus and his apostles and Jesus with the people."Jesus prayed to the Father for the apostles and for the people. But he still prays. "He is the intercessor, the one who prays and prays to God with us and before us. Jesus has saved us, he made this great prayer, his sacrifice, his life, to save us, to justify us: we are righteous through Him. Now he's gone, and he prays. But some say Jesus is a spirit? Jesus is not a spirit! Jesus is a person, a man, with flesh like ours, but in glory. Jesus has the wounds on his hands, feet, sides, and when he prays to the Father he shows that price of justification, and prays for us, as if to say: ' But, Father, let this not be lost".
Jesus "has our prayers" because "he is the first to pray" like "our brother" and "a man like us" he intercedes for us:
"First, he redeemed us, he justified us all: but now, what does he do? He intercedes, he prays for us. I think of what felt Peter when he denied him, and then Jesus looked at him and wept. He felt that what Jesus said was true: he had prayed for him, and for this reason could not cry, he could only repent. Often, among us, we say : 'Will you pray for me? I need it, I have so many problems, many things: Pray for me. That's good! Because we brothers we pray for one another. "The Pope urged those present to ask: "Pray for me , O Lord , You are the intercessor ." He prays for me, He prays for all of us and prays to the Father bravely because he shows the price of our justice : his wounds. We should think a lot about this, and thank the Lord . Thank you for a brother who prays with us and pray for us, intercedes for us. And when we talk with Jesus, let us tell him: ' Lord, You are the intercessor, You saved me ad justified me. But now, pray for me'. Let us entrust our problems, our lives, so many things to Him, so that He may brig them to the Father. "
So who is Jesus praying to? Catholic doctrine of the trinity says there are three persons in one God so it doesn’t make sense for Jesus to pray to God the father (they are one and the same).
They are one in essence, but distinct as persons. Therefore Jesus can act as our own advocate in heaven.
It would be short-sighted to define "prayer" as just supplication only. To pray is to be in living contact, to give oneself as gift and to receive the other as gift, in a Communion of Love.
This is what the Persons of the Trinity do for all eternity.
:-)
:-)
I just copied your definition down! I’m going to be giving a talk on prayer at a retreat at my parish in February, and I think you’ve made my main point very well ;-).
I had as my thesis, “Prayer IS our relationship with God, and our relationship with God IS prayer,” but that might be too opaque.
I's what I tell my RCIA-ers, and a fine crop they are, too, this year. You learn a lot from teaching. Ain't it the truth!
When Feb rolls around, be sure to give us a report!
24 till now ye did ask nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
25 `These things in similitudes I have spoken to you, but there cometh an hour when no more in similitudes will I speak to you, but freely of the Father, will tell you.
26 `In that day, in my name ye will make request, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father for you,
27 for the Father himself doth love you, because me ye have loved, and ye have believed that I from God came forth;
28 I came forth from the Father, and have come to the world; again I leave the world, and go on unto the Father.'
29 His disciples say to him, `Lo, now freely thou dost speak, and no similitude speakest thou;
30 now we have known that thou hast known all things, and hast no need that any one do question thee; in this we believe that from God thou didst come forth.'
31 Jesus answered them, `Now do ye believe? lo, there doth come an hour,
32 and now it hath come, that ye may be scattered, each to his own things, and me ye may leave alone, and I am not alone, because the Father is with me;
33 these things I have spoken to you, that in me ye may have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation, but take courage -- I have overcome the world.'
I’ll send you a draft when I have one. I got a page written (2 min. 20 sec., per my cellphone’s stopwatch) while I was waiting for Cub Scouts to start this evening.
At least it’s not in Spanish, so I don’t have to double my efforts looking up words and verb conjugations! If we have retreatants sign up who don’t understand English, we’ll get Dona Edra to do translations of the talks, at least in summary, and we have enough bilingual people on the team to ensure that there can be discussions in Spanish.
It was touching to see how many people at our meeting this weekend said, “What do we need to do to include everyone, regardless of language?” There’s a cap of 48 retreatants, for this our first effort, and the chance of someone with no English at all attending is slim, but we’re ready to deal with it if that happens.
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