In his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis mentioned an important work of the Holy Spirit, saying he teaches us to pray as an intercessor.
vatican city
Addressing all the faithful and pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of St. Peter’s Basilica for his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis said: Dear brothers and sisters, good morning.
The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is expressed in prayer, as well as in the Word and sacraments, on which we will reflect today. The Holy Spirit is both the subject and object of Christian prayer, that is, he leads us to pray and is received by us in prayer. As children of God, not slaves, we pray to receive the Holy Spirit, and we are given the Holy Spirit to pray.
pray in freedom
The Pope said that we must always pray in freedom, as children of God, not as slaves: “Today we pray for many things, even with the thought that if we do not do so we will go to hell. But this is not true prayer, prayer is a freedom.” He said we pray when the Holy Spirit helps us. When we need something we pray and when we don’t, we do nothing. In such a situation, we should ask ourselves: “Why don’t I feel like praying?” What is happening in my life? The Pope said that it is very useful for us to pray alone, it is to pray like free children. , not as slaves.
The Holy Spirit is received in prayer.
The Holy Father said that first of all we must pray to receive the Holy Spirit. In this context, Jesus tells us about a particular phrase from the gospel: “If you easily give good things to your children when they are bad, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” own If the Father gives us good things, why doesn’t the Father give us the Holy Spirit? This calls us to move forward with courage.” In the New Testament we find that the Holy Spirit always descends during prayer. The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus when he prays at his baptism in the Jordan River, and on the disciples at the time of Pentecost when they pray.
prayer for the holy spirit
We only have this “power” of our own in the Holy Spirit. The power of prayer is not opposed to prayer, but rather enters us as we pray. On the top of Mount Carmel, the false prophet Baal prays for burnt offerings, but nothing happens because they were idolaters, while the prophet Elisha prays and fire falls from heaven and consumes all the offerings. The church faithfully follows this example, always crying out within itself to the Holy Spirit: “Come, come, come, O Holy Spirit.” We do this especially at Mass so that they descend like dew to sanctify the bread and wine of the sacrifice.
The power of true prayer in the Holy Spirit
There we find another matter that is of great importance and encouragement to us, the Holy Spirit giving us the power to truly pray. Saint Paul emphasizes this by saying: “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through our inarticulate sighs. He understands what the Spirit says, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
desire the kingdom of god
The Holy Father said that it is true that we do not know how to pray. Because of this weakness of ours, in the past the sentence was expressed in a single word, as an adjective, a noun, and an adverb. It is easy to remember, that even those who do not know Latin can remember, it is convenient that we remember it in ourselves because it carries within itself a whole principle, “Mali, Mala, Male Petimus”, that is, to be bad. , we demand bad things, in bad ways. Jesus says: “Seek first the Kingdom of God… and everything else will be added to you.” But instead, we pursue other things, mainly our own desires, and completely forget about the Kingdom of God. Let us desire the Kingdom of God and we will achieve the rest.
prayer stay within god
The Pope said: “Yes, the Holy Spirit comes to help us in our weakness, but he does something even more important for us. It inspires us to bear witness as children of God and puts the word Father on our lips. “We cannot say “Abba, Father” without the help of the Holy Spirit.” Christian prayer is not a person on one side talking to the Father on the other side, it is God who prays in us, we pray to God with God. In prayer we live within God and allow God to enter us.
advisor and protector
It is the prayer in which we find the Holy Spirit appearing as our “Helper”, that is, he is our counselor and protector. He does not declare us guilty before the Father but rather intercedes for us. He wants us to believe that we are all sinners, he does it so that we can enjoy the joy of the Father’s mercy, and not so that we destroy ourselves with our guilt. If our heart rebukes us for something, it reminds us that God is bigger than our heart. The Holy Father said that we are all sinners. If any of us fear God for our sins and do not feel at peace within ourselves, let us pray to the Holy Spirit who will teach us to ask for forgiveness. God forgives us even before we finish our sentences asking for forgiveness.
ask for prayer is wanted by god
The Holy Spirit prays for us, teaches us to pray, teaches us to pray for others, for our brothers, for the sick, for the prisoners, even for our mother-in-law. Let us always pray. This prayer is especially dear to God because it is free and charitable. This is what happens when you pray for everyone, says Saint Abrós; It increases when everyone prays for some. This is what happens in prayer. This is a valuable and necessary work of the Church, especially in this jubilee year for which we are preparing. Let us join the Counselor who prays for us according to God’s plan. At the same time, the Holy Father called us to pray not with parrot lips but with a sincere heart: “Lord, help me”, “Lord, I love you”, let us pray for the coming of the Kingdom of the Father and for the Holy Spirit to help us on this.
