Continuing his catechesis on prayer in Wednesday’s General Audience, Pope Francis reflects on “the prayer of praise”, which is possible in all circumstances because God is always faithful.
By Christopher Wells
Pope Francis reflected on the dimension of praise in prayer at Wednesday’s General Audience, starting from “a critical moment in the life of Jesus”.
At the beginning of his ministry, when he had already started to preach the Kingdom of God and perform miracles, “the mission of the Messiah is in crisis”, said the Pope: John the Baptist expresses doubts, while the people to whom he had preached showed hostility to Jesus and His message.
But “precisely at this disappointing moment”, said Pope Francis, “Jesus does not raise a lament to the Father, but a hymn of joy … in the midst of a crisis, Jesus blesses the Father, He praises him”.
God is praised for who He is
Jesus praises God for who He is, calling Him “Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” Jesus recognizes His Father as Lord of the universe and, conversely, recognizes “the Lord of all that exists” as His father. “Praise stems from your experience of feeling that He is ‘Son of the Most High’,” said the Pope.
God favors the little ones
In His prayer, Jesus continues to praise God “for favoring the little ones”. Pope Francis explained that in His ministry, Jesus saw those who were considered “wise” and “learned” react to his preaching with suspicion, while the “little ones” were open to His message. “This can only be the Father’s will,” said the Pope, “and Jesus is happy about it. We must also rejoice and praise God because humble and simple people welcome the Gospel ”.
Jesus’ prayer of praise “at that moment of apparent failure” leads us to see our own failures in a different light, continued Pope Francis. He explained that praising God, especially “when it seems that evil prevails and there is no stopping it”, is necessary, not for the love of God, but for ourselves.
Praising God in times of trial
The Pope cited the catechism, which says that the prayer of praise “participates in the blessed happiness of the pure in heart who love God in faith before seeing him in glory”.
Paradoxically, he said, it is not only in times of happiness, when we feel blessed, but mainly “in difficult times” that we must praise God – precisely so that, by elevating ourselves to God, we can “see a new panorama, a horizon wider. “
The example of the Saints
San Francisco, in his Song of Creatures – Laudato si – offers an excellent example of praising God in times of difficulty.
The prayer was composed at the end of Francisco’s life, when he went through many difficulties. However, at that moment, said Pope Francis, the saint “praises God for everything, for all the gifts of creation and even for death, which he courageously manages to call ‘sister'”.
The example of the saints, concluded Pope Francis, shows us “that we can always praise, in good and bad times, because God is the faithful Friend. This is the foundation of praise: God is the faithful Friend, and His love never fails. “