YOUCAT Question n. 477 – Part I. What does it mean to learn from Jesus how to pray?
(Youcat
answer) Learning from Jesus how to pray means entering into his boundless
trust, joining in his prayer, and being led by him, step by step, to the
Father.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 2621)
In his teaching, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray with a purified heart,
with lively and persevering faith, with filial boldness. He calls them to
vigilance and invites them to present their petitions to God in his name. Jesus
Christ himself answers prayers addressed to him.
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) The disciples, who lived in community with
Jesus, learned to pray by listening to and imitating Jesus, whose whole life
was prayer. Like him, they had to be watchful and strive for purity of heart,
to give up everything for the coming of God’s kingdom, to forgive their
enemies, to trust boldly in God, and to love him above all things. By this
example of devotion, Jesus invited his disciples to say to God Almighty, “Abba,
dear Father”. If we pray in the Spirit of Jesus, especially the Lord’s Prayer,
we walk in Jesus’ shoes and can be sure that we will arrive unfailingly in the
heart of the Father.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 2607)
When Jesus prays he is already teaching us how to pray. His prayer to his
Father is the theologal path (the path of faith, hope, and charity) of our
prayer to God. But the Gospel also gives us Jesus' explicit teaching on prayer.
Like a wise teacher he takes hold of us where we are and leads us progressively
toward the Father. Addressing the crowds following him, Jesus builds on what
they already know of prayer from the Old Covenant and opens to them the newness
of the coming Kingdom. Then he reveals this newness to them in parables.
Finally, he will speak openly of the Father and the Holy Spirit to his
disciples who will be the teachers of prayer in his Church.
(This question: What does it mean to learn from Jesus how to pray? is continued)
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