Pope Francis offers advice when the desire to pray is lost

In those situations in which the believer feels that his inner life is rotting, or he loses the ability to pray, or turns prayer into an empty routine, Pope Francis proposes to turn to the Holy Spirit: “Let the soul be constantly present in our life.” “.

The Holy Father explained during the public interview that was held on Wednesday 17 March at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, “It often happens that we do not pray, we do not feel the desire to pray, or we do not know, or we pray like parrots with our mouths but with a distant heart. “.

This is the time for us to say to the Spirit: “Come, come, Holy Spirit, warm my heart. Come. He taught me to pray. He taught me to see the Father, to see the Son. Show me how to be the path of faith. Teach me how to love. Above all, he taught me to have an attitude of hope.

This Wednesday, the Supreme Pontiff concluded the series of catechesis on prayer, focusing on the relationship with the Holy Trinity, “especially with the Holy Spirit.”

Francis noted, “The first gift of every Christian existence is the Holy Spirit. It is not one of many gifts, but it is an essential gift. The soul is the gift that Jesus promised us to send to us. Without the soul, there is no connection with Christ and the Father. Because the Spirit opens our hearts to the presence of God. And it is attracted to the “whirlwind of love” which is the heart of God.

And the Pope continued: “The Holy Spirit dwells in us. He is the one who changes us in the depths and makes us experience the moving joy of being loved by God as true children.”

In fact, “All the spiritual work that is inside us towards God is performed by the Holy Spirit. This gift is working in us to continue our Christian life towards God with Jesus.”

The Holy Spirit “reminds us” of Jesus and makes him present in us. We can say that it is our Trinitarian memory. It is the memory of God in us. Remind us. He makes Jesus present so that he does not become a character from the past. That is, the Spirit enters Jesus into our consciousness. If Christ were far away in time, we would have been alone and lost in the world. “

Through the Holy Spirit, “the possibility of meeting Christ with Christians in all times and places. You only remember him as a historical figure, no. Christ attracts to our hearts, and it is the Spirit who makes our encounter with Christ.”

“He is not far away, he is with us: He still teaches his disciples by changing their hearts, as he did with Peter, Paul, Mary Magdalene and all the apostles. But why is Jesus present? Because the Spirit brings it to us.

The work of the Holy Spirit in the prayer life of the one who calls him is an experience “lived by many prayers: men and women shaped by the Holy Spirit according to the” measure “of Christ, in mercy, in service., In prayer, catechesis … It is a grace to be able to Meeting people like this: We realize that a different life pulses in them, and their gazes see “beyond”.

Pope Francis emphasized that the Holy Spirit does not only work “in monks, in hermits. It is also present among ordinary people, people who have woven a long life of dialogue with God, and sometimes an inner struggle that purifies the faith. These humble witnesses have sought God in the Bible.” And in the Eucharist that they received and worshiped, in the face of their stumbling brother, while they guarded his presence as a secret fire. “

For this reason, “the first task of Christians is precisely to keep this fire that Jesus brought to earth, that is, the love of God, the Holy Spirit. Without the fire of the Spirit, prophecies are extinguished, sadness replaces joy, custom replaces love, and service becomes slavery.”

The Supreme Pontiff compared the work of the Holy Spirit to “the lamp lit beside the tabernacle, where the Eucharist is preserved. Also when the church is empty and the night falls, also when the church is closed, this lamp remains lit, and continues to burn: no one sees it, but it burns before the Lord. Such is the spirit in our hearts, always present, as in that lamp. “

Pope Francis concluded his teaching by saying, “Let us not forget that. The Spirit is in us. Let us listen to the Spirit, let us call the Spirit. It is the gift, it is the gift that God has given us.”