Acts 13, 1-2 They were worshiping the Lord and fasting

Acts 13

(Acts 13, 1-2) They were worshiping the Lord and fasting

[1] Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. [2] While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

(CCC 1969) The New Law practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer and fasting, directing them to the "Father who sees in secret," in contrast with the desire to "be seen by men" (Cf. Mt 6:1-6; 16-18). Its prayer is the Our Father (Cf. Mt 6:9-13; Lk 11:2-4). (CCC 699) The hand. Jesus heals the sick and blesses little children by laying hands on them (Cf. Mk 6:5; 8:23; 10:16). In his name the apostles will do the same (Cf. Mk 16:18; Acts 5:12; 14:3). Even more pointedly, it is by the Apostles' imposition of hands that the Holy Spirit is given (Cf. Acts 8:17-19; 13:3; 19:6). The Letter to the Hebrews lists the imposition of hands among the "fundamental elements" of its teaching (Cf. Heb 6:2). The Church has kept this sign of the all-powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in its sacramental epicleses. (CCC 2632) Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ (Cf. Mt 6:10, 33; Lk 11:2, 13). There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming. This collaboration with the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which is now that of the Church, is the object of the prayer of the apostolic community (Cf. Acts 6:6; 13:3). It is the prayer of Paul, the apostle par excellence, which reveals to us how the divine solicitude for all the churches ought to inspire Christian prayer (Cf. Rom 10:1; Eph 1:16-23; Phil 19-11; Col 1:3-6; 4:3-4, 12). By prayer every baptized person works for the coming of the Kingdom.