Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In this age of relativism and secularism, in which "God seems to disappear from the horizon of some people or become a reality to which we remain indifferent," but at the same time one in which we are witnessing a religious reawakening, of the "need for spirituality," which shows how the prediction of those who, since the Enlightenment, heralded the demise of religions and praised an absolute reason, detached from faith, a reason that would dispel the darkness of religious dogmatism and would dissolve the world of the sacred, restoring to man his freedom, his dignity and his independence from God has failed". "The experience of the last century, with the two tragic world wars has undermined that progress which the autonomous reason, man without God seemed to guarantee".
In a continuing series of reflections, which started last week and are dedicated to prayer, Benedict XVI spoke today to 30 thousand people in St. Peter's Square for the general audience about how "prayer and religious meaning are part man throughout history "that" there was no great civilization from times immemorial to the present day, which was not religious "digital man just like the caveman, looks for religious ways to overcome his limitations”.
Man, in short, is religious in nature "because" the Creator's image is imprinted in his being and he feels the need to find a light to give answers to questions about the profound sense of reality; answers he can not find in himself, in progress or in empirical science. " "Besides, life without a transcendent horizon be without perfect meaning and happiness', for which we all yearn, naturally projected towards the future, a future yet to be fulfilled."
The Pope, in this regard recalled that the Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate, "said in the various religions man is looking for the answers to the enigma of the human condition:" the nature of man - who am I? - The meaning and purpose of our lives, good and evil, the origin and purpose of sorrow, The path to true happiness, death, trial and punishment after death, and finally the last unutterable mystery which engulfs our being, where do we come from and what are we striving towards". Man "no matter how much he is deceived and still deludes himself today, experiences first hand that he is not enough for himself."
Man "carries a thirst for infinity, a longing for eternity, a search of beauty, a desire for love, a need for light and truth, which lead him to the Absolute, man bears a desire for God". This "attraction to God, that God himself has placed in man is the soul of prayer, which then takes on many forms and modalities according to history, time, the moment, grace and even the sin of each of us" .
Prayer is an experience in every religion and culture, it is not tied to a particular context, rather it is inscribed in the hearts of every person and every civilization.
Prayer is an attitude, before being a series of practices and formulas, a way of being in front of God before being an act of worship or pronunciation of words. " It has its centre in the depths of the person and is not easily decipherable, and, for the same reason, may be subject to misunderstanding and mystification. In this sense we can understand the words: praying is difficult" because "In fact, prayer, is the place par excellence for gratuitous tension toward the Unseen, the Unexpected and the Ineffable. Therefore, 'the experience of prayer is a challenge to all, a 'grace' to be invoked, a gift from Him to which we turn". In this "looking at Another, in this going beyond is the essence of prayer as an experience of a reality that goes beyond the sensible and the contingent." "But only God that is revealed does the human search find fulfilment. Prayer is openness and elevation of the heart to God, it becomes a personal relationship with him. " And God continues to call man to the first mysterious meeting in prayer. " As the Catechism says: "This loving step of the faithful God, always comes first in prayer, the first step is always an answer."
Let us learn - the Pope concluded – to spend greater time before God, the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, let us learn to recognize in the silence, deep within ourselves the voice that calls us and leads us to the depth of our existence, the source of life, the source of salvation for us to go beyond the limit of our lives and open ourselves to the extent of God, to a relationship with He who is infinite love".
