Prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father, Jesus, & the Holy Spirit

Article 169 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series

Paragraphs 2558-2567

The Catechism asks: “What is prayer?” The great Doctor of the Church, Saint John Damascene (675-749), defines prayer as “the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God” (ccc 2559). Another Doctor of the Church, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), defines prayer as “a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy” (ccc 2558).

When in the 19th century Lord Alfred Tennyson of England wrote the words “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of,” little did he know that more than 100 years later people worldwide would continue to invoke his words, the meaning of which transcend time. They remind people of every age how prayer helps enhance, transform and accomplish a myriad of circumstances and situations when all natural efforts fail.

Prayer is God’s gift, the Catechism teaches, and “humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought,’ (Rm 8:26) are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer” (ccc 2559).

Have you ever observed a deer or other wild animal quench its thirst near a stream or other water source? This is a biblical image of prayer. The Catechism provides a similar image: “The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink…prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him” (ccc 2560). It is most appropriate that the psalmist writes: “Like a deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul yearns for you, my God” (Ps 42). Prayer, then, “is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God” (ccc 2561).

The next few paragraphs consider “Prayer as Covenant” and “Where Does Prayer Come From?” Sacred Scripture speaks of the “soul” and the “spirit,” but the “heart” is mentioned much more often. “According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain” (ccc 2062).

The Catechism continues: “The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live…the heart is the place ‘to which I withdraw.’ The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision…It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant” (ccc 2563). In short, Christian prayer “is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ” (ccc 2564).

In discussing “Prayer as Communion,” the Catechism says that in the New Covenant, “prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father…with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit” (ccc 2565). Living a life of prayer is being in the presence of the Holy Trinity and in communion with him whom we have become united through the sacrament of baptism. “Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ’s love” (ccc 2565).

The final theme explored in this section of the Catechism is “The Universal Call to Prayer.” Prayer is for everyone. God calls us all to prayer, because he calls and invites us all to a personal relationship with him. The Catechism tells us that “in the act of creation God calls every being from nothingness into existence” (ccc 2566). Following the lead of the angels in Heaven, we humans are capable of acknowledging “how majestic is the name of the Lord in all the earth” (ccc 2566). Although we have forfeited our “likeness to God” through sin, we remain an image of God our Creator, and continue to desire him. The Catechism affirms: “the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer” (ccc 2567). God always takes the initiative in prayer, an initiative always of love. “Our own first step [in prayer] is always a response” (ccc 2567). Prayer thus becomes a “reciprocal call, a covenant drama… [a drama that] engages the heart” (ccc 2567).

The very notion that the Creator of the universe, the God who always was and always will be, would have reason to initiate a conversation with a mere human being, is unimaginable. Why would God desire such communication? What would God have to converse about with such a creature? The answer can only be found within the mystery of God’s love for each and every human person, all people of all times and places. “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 Jn 4:8).

Our love for God can only be true if it is authentic, because God’s love for us is always authentic, insofar as God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to be born of a woman, Mary. He revealed Himself to the world, but revealed Himself to Mary first: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Lk 1:35). This is unimaginable love – a love that seeks us and provides us the necessary grace that we may never stop seeking him!

Father Hillier is director, diocesan Office of Pontifical Mission Societies, the Office for Persons with Disabilities and Censor Luborum