Saturday, December 6, 2008

1Thes 5, 17-18 Pray without ceasing, give thanks

(1Thes 5, 17-18) Pray without ceasing, give thanks
[17] Pray without ceasing. [18] In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
(CCC 2757) "Pray constantly" (1 Thess 5:17). It is always possible to pray. It is even a vital necessity. Prayer and Christian life are inseparable. (CCC 1174) The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at the Sunday assembly, permeates and transfigures the time of each day, through the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, "the divine office" (Cf. SC, ch. IV, 83-101). This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to "pray constantly," is "so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God" (SC 84; 1 Thess 5:17; Eph 6:18). In this "public prayer of the Church" (SC 98), the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized. Celebrated in "the form approved" by the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours "is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father (SC 84). (CCC 2648) Every joy and suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one's whole life: "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess 5:18)

No comments: