The Gospel of today's Mass1 is a call to personal prayer. When you pray," Jesus tells us, "do not be like the hypocrites, who are fond of praying standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the squares, so as to show off before men.... You, on the contrary, when you begin to pray, go into your room and, shutting the door, pray to your Father who is in secret....
The Lord, who gives us this teaching about prayer, practiced it in his life on earth. The Holy Gospel tells us of the many times He withdrew alone to pray. And this same example was followed by the Apostles and the first Christians, and later by all those who wished to follow the Master closely. "The path that leads to holiness is the path of prayer, and prayer must take root little by little in the soul, like the little seed that will later become a leafy tree.
Daily prayer keeps us vigilant in the face of the enemy who continually lies in wait, it makes us firm in the face of trials and difficulties, we learn in it to serve others, it is the beacon of intense light that illuminates the way and helps us to see obstacles clearly. Personal prayer moves us to do our work better, to fulfill our duties to our own family and to society, and has a decisive influence on our relationships with others. But, above all, it teaches us to treat the Master and to grow in love. "Do not cease to pray! -Prayer is a duty, but it is also a great joy, because it is a dialogue with God through Jesus Christ.
In prayer we are with Jesus; that should be enough for us. We are going to give ourselves, to know him, to learn to love. The way we do it depends on many circumstances: on the moment we are going through, on the joys we have received, on the sorrows... that become joy close to Christ. In many occasions we bring to the consideration some passage of the Gospel and we contemplate the Most Holy Humanity of Jesus, and we learn to love Him (we love only what we know well); other times we examine if we are sanctifying our work, if it brings us closer to God; how is the relationship with those people among whom our life passes: family, friends? Perhaps while reading a book, like the one you are holding in your hands, we can turn what we are reading into a personal theme, saying to the Lord with our heart that ejaculatory that is proposed to us, continuing with an affection that the Holy Spirit has suggested in the depths of our soul, picking up a small resolution to carry it out that day or reviving another that we had formulated....
Mental prayer is a task that demands to bring into play, with the help of grace, the intelligence and the will, ready to fight resolutely against distractions, never admitting them voluntarily, and making an effort to dialogue with the Lord, which is the essence of all prayer: to speak to him with the heart, to look at him, to listen to his voice in the depths of the soul. And we should always have the firm determination to dedicate to God, to be alone with Him, the time we have planned, even if we feel great aridity and it seems to us that we do not achieve anything. "It does not matter if you can do no more than remain on your knees during this time, and fight with absolute lack of success against distractions: you are not wasting your time "5. Prayer is always fruitful if there is a commitment to carry it out, in spite of distractions and moments of aridity. Jesus never leaves us without abundant graces for the whole day. He always "thanks" us with great generosity for the time we have spent with Him