Ave Maria Meditations
Prayer is the secret of nurturing the Christian life. Do not believe in someone who performs a miracle but does not pray. Are you surprised that there are many people who have lost the grace of God, lost their faith, or have turned against the church? There are many reasons for this, but there will always be one main reason: lack of prayer.
Do not neglect vocal prayer. When the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He replied, “Pray like this: our Father who art in heaven” (Mt 6:9); Jesus taught them vocal prayer. You are taught to recite prayers in order to help you to pray, but prayer itself is the encounter and conversation between Father and child. “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door; pray to your Father who is hidden, and your Father who sees what is hidden will reward you” (Mt 6:6).
There is no need to be formal; simply pray from the heart as a child speaks to his or her father. A seemingly holy person who does not pray is not a saint. Wait and see, the mask will crumble before long. You can judge the effectiveness of a person’s ministry by looking at his or her prayer life. If you are not a person of prayer, no one will believe that you work for God alone.
+Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
