People have always prayed, to
"witness of the religious dimension inscribed in the heart of every
man," they pray "because they can not help but ponder the meaning of
their existence, which remains dark and daunting, if not made in
connection with the mystery of God and his plan for the world ".
But
even if people have always prayed, today there is still a "need to learn
to pray, because prayer" should not be taken for granted "and also the
masters of spiritual life must always learn and renew" this art. "
Benedict XVI said as much Wednesday, announcing to the 40 thousand people
attending the general audience in St Peter's Square the beginning of a
new series of reflections that will be almost a "school of prayer."
In this journey, "we receive the first lesson from the Lord,
through His example. The Gospels describe Jesus in intimate and ongoing
dialogue with the Father: this is a deep communion of the one who came
into the world not to do his will, but that of the Father, who was sent
for the salvation of man”.
But the Pope’s examination of prayer began today, "as an
introduction”, with the most ancient cultures: from Egypt, where a blind
man asks the gods to restore his sight. It is a pure prayer of
supplication from someone who is in suffering: turn your face to me so
that that I may see you".
In Mesopotamia "dominated by a mysterious and paralyzing guilt,
not without, however, hope for redemption and deliverance from God", as
shown in a petition that says, "O God you who are too indulgent even
with my most serious faults, absolve my sin ... Look, O Lord, upon your
exhausted servant, and breath upon him: forgive him without delay.
Relieve him from your severe punishment".
"These expressions demonstrate
that man, in his search for God, realized, albeit vaguely," even
"aspects of the mercy and goodness of God."
In ancient Greece there is an evolution, " prayers, while
continuing to invoke divine help in search of the favor of heaven in all
the circumstances of daily life and to achieve material benefits,
progressively move towards more disinterested requests, allowing
believers to deepen their relationship with God and become better
people. For example, the great philosopher Plato tells of a prayer of
his teacher, Socrates, who is rightly considered one of the founders of
Western thought: grant that I may become beautiful within, and that
whatever outward things I have may be in harmony with the spirit inside
me. May I understand that it is only the wise who are rich, and may I
have only as much money as a temperate person needs. For me, that prayer
is enough. " And those "literary masterpieces of all time that are the
Greek tragedies," which contain "prayers expressing the desire to know
God and to worship his majesty. One of them reads: 'Support the earth,
you who reside above the earth, whoever you are, difficult to
understand, Zeus, may you be the law of nature or the thought of mere
mortals, I turn to you: for you, proceeding along silent paths, guide
human affairs according to justice”.
In the Romans' prayer, even if associated with a utilitarian
view, fundamentally linked to the demand of divine protection on the
life of civil society, sometimes invocations of admirable zeal and
personal piety appear, that become praise and thanksgiving ".
This is
attested by Apuleius in his writings which "manifestthe contemporary
dissatisfaction towards the traditional religion and the desire for a
more authentic relationship with God." In the Metamorphoses, a believer
turns to a female deity with these words: 'You are truly holy, you are
savoir of the human species for all time, you, in your generosity, offer
more aid to mortals, you offer to the poor in labour the sweet
affection that only a mother can have '. "
And the emperor Marcus
Aurelius, who was also a philosopher, "affirms the need to pray to
establish a fruitful cooperation between divine action and human action.
He writes in his memory: 'Who told you that the gods do not help us
even in what depends on us? Thus begin to pray, and you will see '. "
In these examples of the different epochs and civilizations,
"the awareness that the human being as a creature of his condition and
dependence on Another the source of all good. Throughout time man prays
because he can not help but wonder what the meaning of his existence is,
which remains dark and depressing, if not made in connection with the
mystery of God and his plan for the world. Human life is a weave of good
and evil, of undeserved suffering and joy and beauty, which
spontaneously and irresistibly impels us to ask God for that light and
inner strength that comes to our aid on earth and open up a hope that
goes beyond the boundaries of death. "
Through the examples of the different cultures of prayer, the
Pope concluded, "we can see a witness of the religious dimension and the
desire for God inscribed in the hearts of every man, which receives
full expression and fulfilment in the Old and New Testament. The
Revelation, in fact, purifies and brings to fullness the original desire
of man for God, offering him, in prayer, the possibility of a deeper
relationship with our Heavenly Father. "