"Praying is not an accessory, an optional extra, but it is a matter of life or death. Only those who pray, that is, those who entrust themselves to God with filial love, can enter eternal life, which is God Himself". This was said yesterday morning by Benedict XVI, before he led the Angelus prayer from Saint Peter’s Square. As he mentioned the page of Luke’s Gospel in which the evangelist tells of the Transfiguration of Jesus, which was witnessed by the Apostles Peter, James and John, the Pope stressed a "detail": the statement "of the object of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah, who appeared beside Him transfigured" i.e. "His demise, which He would complete in Jerusalem". So, commented the Holy Father, "Jesus listens to the Law and the Prophets who tell Him about His death and Resurrection. In His intimate dialogue with the Father, He does not leave history, He does not escape the mission for which He came into the world, even if He knows that, for Him to reach glory, He will have to pass through the Cross". Actually, added Benedict XVI, "Christ enters more deeply into this mission, by adhering with all Himself to the Father’s will, and shows us that the true prayer consists just in joining our own will to God’s will". (to be continued)
