568. What are the expressions of the life of prayer?
(Comp 568) Christian tradition has
preserved three forms for expressing and living prayer: vocal prayer,
meditation, and contemplative prayer. The feature common to all of them is the
recollection of the heart.
“In brief”
(CCC 2720) The Church invites the faithful to regular
prayer: daily prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the feasts
of the liturgical year.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2699)The Lord leads all
persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and each believer responds
according to his heart's resolve and the personal expressions of his prayer.
However, Christian Tradition has retained three major expressions of prayer:
vocal meditative, and contemplative. They have one basic trait in common:
composure of heart. This vigilance in keeping the Word and dwelling in the
presence of God makes these three expressions intense times in the life of
prayer.
Reflection
(CCC 2563) The heart is the
dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical
expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart
is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the
Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the
place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth,
where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image
of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.
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