Learning To Pray

There's no insurmountable obstacle on the road for true evangelizers.

Philip run up to the chariot and heard the eunuch reading Isaiah the prophet.

"You fulfill a demanding life plan: you get up early, you pray, you frequent the Sacraments, you work or study a lot, you are sober, you are mortified..., but you notice that something is missing!

Bring this consideration to your dialogue with God: since holiness-the struggle to achieve it-is the fullness of charity, you must review your love for God and, through Him, for others. Perhaps you will then discover, hidden in your soul, great defects, against which you did not even fight: you are not a good son, a good brother, a good companion, a good friend, a good colleague; and, since you love "your holiness" inordinately, you are envious.

You "sacrifice" yourself in many "personal" details: that is why you are attached to your self, to your person and, deep down, you do not live for God or for others; only for yourself." (St Josemaria)

"One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of Saint Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: “…I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you… because I hold you in my heart” (Phil 1:4, 7). Here we see that intercessory prayer does not divert us from true contemplation, since authentic contemplation always has a place for others." (Pope Francis)

"Dear brothers and sisters, let us start, and start anew, as Church, from the Holy Spirit … I leave you with this question: do I pray to the Spirit? Do I let myself be guided by Him?" (Pope Francis)

"Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks out with compassion to the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now." (St Teresa of Avila)

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

"Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed, rules to be followed, or prohibi-tions. Seen that way, it puts us off. Christianity is a person who loved me immensely, who demands and asks for my love. Christianity is Christ." (St Oscar Romero)

My prayer life always fuels other people's prayer life.

Just do it and see the big picture.