The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 335: Jesus Teaches Us to Pray (2024)

Episode Date: November 30, 2024

At the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us to pray through his own prayer to the Father. As we watch Jesus pray, his prayer becomes our template for our own prayer. Fr. Mike emphasizes that our prayer should not just be external, but rather should be an internal conversion of heart. This internal conversion of heart involves many aspects such as, reconciliation, loving our enemies, praying to the Father in secret, and prayerful forgiveness. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2607-2615. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 335. We're reading paragraphs 2607 to 2615. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can

also download your own Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y, and you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates Daily notifications speaking of today today's today's a great day to be grateful and I am grateful Thank you so much for all of you who have supported the production of this podcast by your prayers Thank you for praying for me and praying for all the people who who work on this podcast and thank you for praying for each other And also thank you for all those who help us with your financial gifts We literally could not do this without you. We could not get to day 335. You know, yesterday we talked about how Jesus prays.

Today we're taking the next step and Jesus teaches us how to pray. And this is remarkable because paragraph 2607 begins by saying, you know, just what we said yesterday, Jesus prays and we see Jesus praying. The first line says, when Jesus prays, he's already teaching us how to pray. Which is completely true. Just by watching Christ pray, by watching Jesus pray, the Son approach the Father. We have our map, right?

That's our template for how we can approach the Father as well, and yet at the same time, there are some times when Jesus explicitly teaches us how to pray. And so we're gonna look at those things today. The aspects, the character of Christ's prayer, as well as what he encourages us, and how he encourages us how to pray. Does so we're gonna look at those things today. The aspects, the character of Christ's prayer, as well as what he encourages us and how he encourages us how to pray. Does that make sense? I think it makes sense. So let's do that. Let us pray as

Jesus taught us, not in the sense of the Our Father, but in terms of just coming before our Father with great trust, with filial boldness, right? The boldness of sons and daughters of a good, good dad. As we pray, Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus, your only begotten Son, we enter into your presence by the power of your Holy Spirit. Teach us to pray. Help us to pray. Help us to be the men and women that you have called and redeemed us to be. Help us to always approach you as our good Father who is

just and loving and merciful and good. And so, good, good, Dad, good Father, we ask that you please in this moment continue to teach us how to pray. Not just in moments where we're saying our prayers, but in every moment. Help us to have that that glance turn toward you. A cry of recognition and of love embracing both trial and joy in every moment of our lives. Help us to always pray as your son our Lord taught us how to pray in his name. We pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 335. We are reading paragraphs 2607 to 2615.

Jesus teaches us how to pray. When Jesus prays, he is already teaching us how to pray. His prayer to his Father is the theological path, the path of faith, hope, and charity, of our prayer to God. But the gospel also gives us Jesus' explicit teaching on prayer. Like a wise teacher, he takes hold of us where we are and leads us progressively toward the Father. Addressing the crowds following him, Jesus builds on what they already know of prayer

from the Old Covenant and opens to them the newness of the coming Kingdom. Then he reveals this newness to them in parables. Finally, he will speak openly of the Father and the Holy Spirit to his disciples, who will be the teachers of prayer in his church. From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart, reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies, and prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and

seeking the kingdom before all else. This filial conversion is entirely directed to the Father. Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to seek and to knock since he himself is the door and the way. Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness, saying, Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it and you will. Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt. All things are possible to him who believes.

Jesus is as saddened by the lack of faith of his own neighbors and the little faith of his own disciples, as he is struck with admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman. The prayer of faith consists not only in saying, Lord, Lord, but in disposing the heart to do the will of the Father. Jesus calls his disciples to bring into their prayer this concern for cooperating with the divine plan.

In Jesus, the kingdom of God is at hand. He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but also to watchfulness. In prayer, the disciple keeps watch, attentive to him who is and him who comes, in memory of his first coming in the lowliness of the flesh, and in the hope of his second coming in glory. In communion with their master, the disciple's prayer is a battle. Only by keeping watch in prayer can one avoid falling into temptation. Three principle parables on prayer are transmitted to us by St. Luke. The first, the important friend, invites us to urgent prayer.

Knock, and it will be open to you. To the one who prays like this, the Heavenly Father will give whatever he needs and above all the Holy Spirit who contains all gifts. The second, the important widow, is centered on one of the qualities of prayer. It is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with the patience of faith. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? The third parable, the Pharisee and the tax collector, concerns the humility of the heart that prays, God be merciful to me

a sinner. The Church continues to make this prayer its own, Kyrie eleison. When Jesus openly entrusts to his disciples the mystery of prayer to the Father, he reveals to them what their prayer and ours must be once he has returned to the Father in his glorified humanity. What is new is to ask in his name. Faith in the Son introduces the disciples into the knowledge of the Father because Jesus is the way and the

truth and the life. Faith bears its fruit in love. It means keeping the Word and the commandments of Jesus. It means abiding with Him in the Father who in Him so loves us that He abides with us. In this new covenant, the certitude that our petitions will be heard is founded on the prayer of Jesus. Even more, what the Father gives us when our prayer is united with that of Jesus is another counselor, to be with you forever even the Spirit of truth. This new dimension of prayer and of its circumstances is displayed throughout the Farewell Discourse.

In the Holy Spirit, Christian prayer is a communion of love with the Father, not only through Christ, but also in Him. He said, Hitherto you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. All right, there we have it, paragraphs 2607 to 2615. This is incredible, just absolutely beautiful. And I love how this section just unfolds and unpacked. It tells us in 2607 exactly what is it gonna teach us, and then it teaches us. I love when it's that clear. For example, again, 2607 highlights by saying,

when Jesus prays, he's already teaching us how to pray. We watch Jesus and his prayer becomes the template we his his trust in the Father becomes the template his is coming before God consistently and and regularly and Persistently is the key for all of us and this is so important Paragraph 2607 goes on to say but the gospel also gives us Jesus's explicit teaching on prayer. And he says, so good, because here's the next steps. Says like a wise teacher, he takes hold of us where we are and leads us progressively toward the Father.

And that is so incredible. Jesus, the people he teaches how to pray are the Jewish people. They know who God is in so many ways, but he's revealing a new dimension of God that they didn't realize. They didn't know that God was a Trinity. They didn't know that God is, at the very heart of God that they didn't realize. They didn't know that God was a trinity. They didn't know that God is,

at the very heart of God's identity, is love. Of course they knew God is just. Of course they knew that God is good, that God loves them. But Jesus unpacks and packs that even more fully. Goes on to say, "'Then Jesus reveals this newness to them in parables. "'Finally, he'll speak openly of the Father

"'and the Holy Spirit to his disciples, "'who will then be the teachers of the prayer in the church. And so Jesus reveals these key aspects, these key elements of what Christian prayer is gonna be. So paragraph 26 to 8 says, from the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart. So recognize, we've talked about this so many times,

that our prayer, our pious acts, our liturgy, our worship, all these things, they're external this so many times that our prayer our our pious acts our liturgy our worship all these things they're external in so Many ways, but they have to have to match up with this conversion of heart this interior I belong to the Lord right and what does that look like? Well here in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus makes it pretty clear if we're gonna have this conversion of heart that's gonna mean things like Reconciliation with your brother before you present your offering on the altar if you're have this conversion of heart, that's going to mean things like reconciliation with your brother before you present your offering on the altar. If you're going to have conversion of heart, it means that you strive to love

your enemies and pray for your persecutors. That you're going to pray to the Father in secret, not trying to heap up empty phrases. It's going to mean, if we have this conversion of heart, it's going to mean prayerful forgiveness from the depths of your heart. It's going to mean striving after purity of heart and seeking the kingdom before everything else. So that recognition of we're being converted into God's sons and daughters. This depth of conversion is so, so important. That's one of the first steps that Jesus insists on, that it's not just external. It's not just, in my prayer time, that's when I come before the Lord, but the rest of my life, I'll do whatever I want.

This coherence of one's life, and this is gonna be so important for us. We're gonna hear this later on, but we pray as we live because we live as we pray. This is a key that we need to know. We live as we pray because we pray as we live. And so if my heart during the day, during the course of my life is far from God,

then how in the world, why in the world would I imagine that my heart would be close to God when I'm praying? No, we live as we pray because we pray as we live. So we need conversion of heart. Second, in paragraph 2609, it says, once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. And we, of course, we know what faith,

the humble submission of the intellects and will before God We talked about that many times. I love in this section Here's kind of a new but not a new definition of faith, but just another way to Peel back. What's the reality of faith? It says this faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand I love that faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. I love that. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. So filial, remember, as a son or daughter to God the Father, beyond what we feel and understand. I'm adhering to the Father as His child, beyond what I feel, beyond what I understand. And so this is remarkable. So we're committed to conversion.

Our prayer happens in faith. And then paragraph 26 10 talks about how then our prayer Has to have this filial boldness Right this sense of I'm coming before my father who is good Remember we talked about this how Abraham Moses the figures of the old covenant the more and more they learned about the identity of God The more their prayer changed they realized that they could come before God because he's good and he cares and they could intercede on behalf of others. So therefore for us, I mean we've been going 335 days, we've been learning about God and if you also been following along with the Bible in a year, you've been learning about God, you've been learning what his heart is like. Because of that

we know that we have the heart of a good father who is just, who cares about us, who knows your name, who has counted the hairs of a good father who is just who cares about us who knows your name who has counted The hairs on your head who knows every strand of DNA who knows has been with you every breath and every heartbeat Therefore because of that we get to have this filial boldness because we know who God is we get to come before him as humble of course with humility, but also with this strange mix of humility and as humble of course with humility, but also with this strange mix of humility and boldness. It's so incredible. Now at the same time we have conversion, right?

We have faith, we have filial boldness, but also paragraph 26, 11 highlights this, that the prayer of faith isn't just that we call out Lord, Lord. Remember Jesus even said that, not all those who say to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but who? But only those who do the

Will of my father in heaven so we recognize that the faith is not just something we hold in our hearts Although we have conversion of heart and conversion of life, but faith is something that has to be lived And I don't live that faith then it is it's not is it really faith is the big question or is it just kind of a? Big big feeling or big intuition or vague wish? So we have faith. We have this conversion of heart. We have filial boldness. We have faith that actually moves and works.

But also paragraph 26-12 says we're also going to pray with watchfulness. And watchfulness is knowing that Jesus is coming back. Yes, of course that. But also, I would say it's also an awareness. It's an awareness that God is active in your life. So watchfulness, yes, we're waiting for the second coming of our Lord, that last coming, the final coming of our Lord. That's real.

But also an awareness that he's here right now, like with you as you're listening to these words, God is here, God is with you, and God is attentive to you in this moment. And so if we're gonna pray like Jesus, he teaches us how to pray with his watchfulness for his final coming, but also an awareness, he is with you right now.

By the power of his Holy Spirit, God is attentive to you, God is present to you, and that has to change the way in which we pray. So again, conversion of heart, faith, filial boldness, faith that moves, watchfulness slash awareness, and now we keep moving on, keep moving on because Jesus taught us how to pray in so many ways.

There are three parables that are given to us in the Gospel of St. Luke. There's the, two of them are importunate, right? I will say importunate. Basically, the first is the importunate friend, right? The one who goes to his neighbor and says, I have a visitor, they're coming here and please help me give them some food for them, basically. And this, no, we're already in bed, everyone's in bed. He says, but if he keeps knocking, if he keeps on knocking on the door, it will be opened. And so that's this encouragement. Just keep on knocking and the door will be opened.

The next is the important of widow, right? And that quality of prayer that is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with the patience of faith. And this is so important. Not only that we continue to persevere, but we persevere with patience. And then the third parable is the Pharisee and the tax collector. Remember that the Pharisee goes all the way up to the front in the temple and says, God, you know, here's all,

I give you thanks for all the great things that I do and the tax collectors in back. And he says, Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. And that concerns the humility of heart. And so we even say that at every Mass. It says here in paragraph 26, 13, it highlights the fact that at the beginning of Mass, we say, Lord have mercy, that Greek term, kiree eleison. And so all three of these, this persevering

prayer, this prayer that is made with patience, and also this prayer that's made in humility, we just say, Lord, I know you are God and you're good, and I am a sinner, and I need your mercy. These are three aspects of our prayer always, which is remarkable. Last couple notes. Thoregraph 26-14 highlights the fact that Jesus Christ has given us, we get to pray in His name and when we pray in His name and the power of His Holy Spirit, we have access to the Father. We get to, as we live, when we live like the Son, we get to abide like the Son in the Father, who in Christ so loves us that he abides with us. And just reflect on that for just one moment. We get to ask the Father in the name of Jesus We get to ask the Father in the name of Jesus for all things.

Not only that, but as the Father's adopted sons and daughters, we get to take our place with the Son. When we pray, we ask in His name, we pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but we also pray in the name of Jesus. And so when we keep the words and commandments of Jesus, we get to abide with Jesus in the Father who in Jesus so loves us that he abides with us. And this is so incredible. I love the last line of 26-14. In this new covenant, the certitude that our petitions will be

heard is founded on the prayer of Jesus. That Jesus is prayer. He says, Father, I know you hear my prayer. You always hear my prayer. And we have a certitude that our prayer will be heard. Now, our prayer is answered according to the Father's will. That's so important and we're going to learn more about that. Our prayer is answered in accordance with the Father's will. But we know that our prayer is always heard, that your cries are always heard. Your laments, your complaints, my struggles, every one of us, they're all always

heard because what's revealed to us in the Son and through the rest of scriptures as well, what's revealed to us is that the Father loves us, that the Father loves you. And that's how we approach God. Yes, he is good. Yes, he is holy. Yes, he is, there's no shade or shadow or spot or blemish. There's no weakness in him. And yet he loves you and me in our weakness and in our shadow, in our shade. He loves us in the midst of our sin. And so we can approach him with confidence,

that filial boldness, but also humility, knowing that God loves you as you are. He just loves you too much to let you stay that way. You ever heard that? Well it's true. God loves you now and so we pray always. We pray always. Please pray for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.