The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6:7

Prayer is not about words; it is communing with the Lord from within.

The New Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes the last part-book four, to prayer. It describes prayer, simply, as ‘meditating on the scriptures.’ All you need to do when you pray is read the scriptures, meditatively.

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog; prayer is from the heart. It is not about words or the repetition of words. People who think they will gain a hearing by the multiplication of words when they pray, fail to understand how to pray. To say one Our Father well is worth a thousand Our Fathers repeated for repetition’s sake.

When you pray, you need to be open to the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, who will guide you. The human spirit is too compromised by the distractions, anxieties, cares and sin of the world to pray on its own. This is why St. Paul says that you cannot pray except ‘through the Holy Spirit.’ The Holy Spirit is Christ’s gift to us to guide us to the fullness of his truth and to an understanding of his word-the Scriptures.

The disciples asked Jesus how to pray, and he gave them the Our Father-the perfect prayer. It only has fifty five words, but is full of meaning. Meditating on the Our Father is more important than reciting it over and over again. Book four of the New Catechism of the Catholic Church offers an extended meditation on the Our Father.

In today’s scripture passage, the Lord asks us not to babble like the Pagans when we pray. Prayer is our silent communion with the Lord. It is from the heart; it is meditation on the Scriptures and, when you pray, pray through the Holy Spirit.

Fr. Hugh Duffy