Pope Francis and the importance of prayer, because man is a "beggar of God"
The Pope begins a new cycle of catechesis, dedicated to prayer, analyzing the figure of Bartimeo, the blind man of Jericho who in the Gospel of Mark shouts his faith to Jesus and asks to be able to see again, a "persevering man" who has not accustomed to "the evil that oppresses us" but cried out the hope of being saved
Alessandro Di Bussolo - Vatican City
Prayer "is like a cry that comes from the heart of those who believe and entrust themselves to God". And with the cry of Bartimeo, the blind beggar of Jericho who in the Gospel of Mark hears Jesus coming and calls him several times, invoking his pity, Pope Francis opens the new cycle of catechesis on the theme of prayer. After reflections on the eight Beatitudes, in today's general audience, always without faithful and from the Library of the Apostolic Palace for the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pope chooses Bartimaeus - who I confess, he says, "for me it is the most likeable of all "- as the first example of a man praying because" he is a persevering man "who does not remain silent even if people tell him that begging is useless". And in the end, Francesco recalls, "he got what he wanted".
Prayer, breath of faith
Prayer, the Pontiff begins, "is the breath of faith, it is its most proper expression". And analyzes the Gospel episode which has as its protagonist the "son of Timaeus", who begs at the edge of a road on the outskirts of Jericho. Bartimeo hears that Jesus would have passed by and does everything to be able to meet him. "Many wanted to see Jesus - adds Francis - he too". So, he comments, "enters the Gospels like a voice crying out loud." Nobody helps him to get closer to the Lord, so he begins to cry: "Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!".
The stubborn stubbornness of someone who seeks grace
His screams are annoying, and many "tell him to keep quiet," recalls Francesco. "But Bartimeo is not silent, on the contrary, he shouts even louder". It is, he comments on his arm, "That stubbornness so beautiful of those who seek grace and knock, knock on the door of the heart of God". And calling Jesus "Son of David", Bartimaeus recognizes in him "the Messiah". It is, stresses the Pontiff, "a profession of faith that comes from the mouth of that man despised by all". And Jesus listens to him. Bartimaeus' prayer "touches the heart of God, and the doors of salvation are opened for him. Jesus calls him ".
The power of faith attracts God's mercy
He is brought before the Master, who "asks him to express his desire" and this is important, the Pope comments "and then the cry becomes a question: 'May I see again!'". Finally, Jesus says to him, "Go, your faith has saved you."
He recognizes that poor, helpless, despised man, all the power of his faith, which attracts the mercy and power of God. Faith is to have two hands raised, a voice that cries out to implore the gift of salvation.
Faith is protesting against a penalty we don't understand
The Catechism, recalls Pope Francis, states that "humility is the foundation of prayer", in number 2559. Prayer in fact originates from the earth, from humus, from which it derives "humble", "humility" and "comes from our state of precariousness, from our constant thirst for God ”, Francis quotes again. He adds: "Faith is a cry, non-faith is to stifle that cry", a kind of "silence".
Faith is protest against a painful condition for which we do not understand why; non-faith is limited to suffering a situation to which we have adapted. Faith is hope of being saved; non-faith is to get used to the evil that oppresses us, and to continue like this.
Bartimeo, the example of a persevering man
The Pope thus explains the choice to start talking about prayer "with Bartimeo's cry, because perhaps in a figure like his there is already everything written". In fact Bartimeo "is a persevering man", who before "explaining that begging was useless", "did not remain silent. And in the end he got what he wanted. "
Stronger than any contrary argument, in the heart of man there is a voice that invokes. We all have this voice inside. A voice that comes out spontaneously, without anyone commanding it, a voice that questions the meaning of our journey down here, especially when we are in the dark: “Jesus, have mercy on me! Jesus have mercy on me! ". Beautiful prayer, this.
The silent cry in the heart of man, "beggar of God"
But perhaps, Pope Francis concludes, "are these words not carved in the whole of creation?", Which "invokes and pleads for the mystery of mercy to find its definitive fulfillment". In fact, he recalls, "not only Christians pray" but all men and women, and, as St. Paul affirms in the Letter to the Romans, "the whole creation" that "groans and suffers the birth pangs". It is a "silent cry, which presses in every creature and emerges above all in the heart of man, because man is a" beggar of God ", a beautiful definition, comments Francis, who is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Pope's appeal for laborers who "are often harshly exploited"
No to exploitation, yes to the dignity of farm laborers
Before the greetings in Italian, the Pontiff makes the appeal of the "agricultural laborers, including many immigrants, who work in the Italian countryside" and who "unfortunately are harshly exploited many times". It is true, he comments, "that there is a crisis for everyone, but the dignity of people must always be respected", and therefore invites "to make the crisis an opportunity to put the dignity of the person and of work at the center".
Petition to Our Lady of the Rosary: God grant peace to the world
Then Pope Francis recalls that after tomorrow, Friday 8 May, the "intense prayer of the Supplication to Our Lady of the Rosary" will rise at the Shrine of Pompeii, and urges everyone "to join spiritually in this popular act of faith and devotion, so that for intercession of the Holy Virgin, the Lord grant mercy and peace to the Church and to the whole world ". Finally, he exhorts the Italian faithful to place themselves "with confidence under the maternal protection of Mary" with the certainty "that she will not make you miss her comfort in the hour of trial".
Vatican source Vatican official source