Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 492 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 492 - Part II. Does my personal prayer have something to do with the prayer of the Church?

(Youcat answer - repeated) In the Church’s public worship, in her Liturgy of the Hours and in Holy Mass, common prayers are recited that come from Sacred Scripture or from the Tradition of the Church. They unite the individual with the praying community of the Church.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2657) The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us - to pray in hope. Conversely, the prayer of the Church and personal prayer nourish hope in us. The psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God: "I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry" (Ps 40:2). As St. Paul prayed: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Rom 15:13).      

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Christian prayer is not a private matter, but it is very personal. Personal prayer becomes purified, expands, and is strengthened when it regularly flows into the prayer of the whole Church. It is a great and beautiful sign when believers throughout the earth are united at the same time in the same prayers and thereby sing one hymn of praise to God.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2658 a) "Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by which we are loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving as he has loved us.

(This question: Does my personal prayer have something to do with the prayer of the Church? is continued)