Archbishop Fisichella tells AgenSir: “The Year of Prayer will put God back at the center”

“Pope Francis has always maintained since the beginning of his pontificate that ‘evangelization is done on our knees’. This expression is key to understanding the Year of Prayer. The contemplation of the mystery of God in our life and of our relationship with Him has to come first."

With these words Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, spoke on the Year of Prayer to the Italian Catholic press agency Sir.

The Year of Prayer will therefore not be about ‘a series of initiatives proposed by the Dicastery’, but ‘on the contrary, its aim is to put God back at the center and us on our knees before Him without multiplying our requests, knowing that he already knows them.

“We need to recognize our need to be welcomed by Him, understood and forgiven. This year has to be seen in the perspective of the forthcoming Jubilee Year which places at the center the great theme of indulgence as full and total forgiveness on the part of God".

This year will be a ‘school of prayer’ according to the Archbishop, ‘so as to rediscover the steps we need to take to live under the gaze of a God who listens to us’.  

He continued: “Christians know that their prayer can be effective if made in the spirit of the prayer that Jesus taught us. In response to the disciples' request to teach them to pray, Jesus responded with words that summarize the entire Gospel he proclaimed. Entering little by little into the prayer of the Our Father is an experience in which we become more certain of what we really need."

To best experience this period of reflection on prayer, the Pro-Prefect suggested that people read or reread the 38 catecheses that Pope Francis delivered in 2020-2021 on the topic. In addition, a new series of booklets, Notes on Prayer are, or soon will be, available for purchase. This is an eight-volume series with “short reflections on why we pray and how to pray today; prayer with the psalms, with the prayer of Jesus, rediscovering the parables of prayer as well as the prayer of saints and sinners".

Finally, a short handout from the Dicastery for Evangelization will soon be made available online with indications of what we already do every day but which perhaps we need to rediscover with greater enthusiasm".

You can read the full speech on AgenSir:  https://www.agensir.it/chiesa/2024/02/19/prayer-is-what-makes-us-present-in-the-world/