|
Prayer and Contemplation
25. Prayer and contemplation provide the ambient for
the reception of the Word of God and at the same time they spring from
listening to the Word. Without an interior life of love which draws the Word,
the Father and the Spirit to itself, an outlook of faith is impossible (cf. Jn14:23). As a consequence life itself
loses meaning, the faces of brothers and sisters are obscured and it becomes
impossible to recognize the face of God in them, historical events remain
ambiguous and deprived of hope and apostolic and charitable mission
become nothing more than widespread activity.
Every vocation to consecrated life
is born in contemplation, from moments of intense communion and from a deep
relationship of friendship with Christ, from the beauty and light which was
seen shining on his face. From there the desire to always be with the Lord—and
to follow him—matures:“how good it is for us to be here” (Mt 17:4). Every vocation must constantly mature in this intimacy
with Christ. “Your first task therefore”—John Paul reminds consecrated persons—
“cannot not be in the line of contemplation.
Every reality of consecrated life is born and is regenerated each day in the
unending contemplation of the face of Christ”.77
Monks and cloistered nuns like
hermits dedicate more time to praise of God as well as to prolonged silent
prayer. Members of Secular Institutes, like consecrated virgins in the world,
offer to God the joys and sorrows, the hopes and petitions of all people and
contemplate the face of Christ which they recognize in the faces of their
brothers and sisters, in the historical events, in the apostolate and in
everyday work. Religious men and women dedicated to teaching, to the care of
the sick, to the poor, encounter the face of the Lord there. For missionaries
and members of Societies of Apostolic Life the proclamation of the Gospel is
lived according to the example of St. Paul, as authentic cult (cf. Rm1:6). The whole Church enjoys and
benefits from the many forms of prayer and the variety of ways in which the one
face of Christ is contemplated.
At the same time it is noticeable that,
for many years now, the liturgical prayer of the Hours and the celebration of
the Eucharist have assumed a central position in the life of all types of
communities and of fraternities, once again giving them a biblical and
ecclesial vigour. They also foster mutual edification and can become a witness
to be before God and with God, “a house
and a school of communion”.78 An authentic spiritual
life requires that everyone, in all the diverse vocations, regularly dedicate,
every day, appropriate times to enter deeply into silent conversation with him
by whom they know they are loved, to share their very
lives with him and to receive enlightenment to continue on the daily journey.
It is an exercise which requires fidelity, because we are constantly being
bombarded by the estrangements and excesses which come from today's society,
especially from the means of communication. At times fidelity to personal and
liturgical prayer will require a true effort not to allow oneself to be
swallowed up in frenetic activism. Otherwise it will be impossible to bear
fruit. “No more than a branch can bear fruit of itself apart from the vine can
you bear fruit apart from me” (Jn
15:4).
|