Do you want to make the most of what remains of the Year of Prayer 2024? Father Juan Carlos Vásconez, from the Talking with Jesus Foundation, that offers a podcast with daily meditations to prayshared three tips that will help you improve your prayer life.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis inaugurated the Year of Prayer, a special time dedicated to spiritual preparation to celebrate the Ordinary Jubilee of Hope 2025a historic event in which the Catholic Church asks the faithful to be pilgrims of hope, especially with those who suffer.
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At its inauguration on January 21, the Pope Francis said that this year is “dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute necessity of prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church and the world.” Furthermore, he gave Catholics a special mission: “I ask you to intensify your prayer to prepare us to live well this event of grace and thus experience the strength of God’s hope.”
In statements to ACI Prensa, Father Juan Carlos Vásconez, Doctor in Theology and member of the Talk to Jesus Foundationexplained that Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to deepen their prayer life during this year, since Jubilee 2025 “must become the ‘breathing of our spiritual life’.”
The Talking with Jesus Foundation was born five years ago, it is made up of 12 priests and more than 70 volunteers; and is known for offering “a daily podcast that helps people do mental prayer, in a priest-preached meditation format,” he noted.
Although a few months have passed since the beginning of the Year of Prayer, there is still time to give a boost to your prayer life and thus improve your relationship with God and with others.
To help the faithful in this mission, Father Vásconez offered three pieces of advice based on the document teach us to pray from the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization:
1. Promote prayer in your parish community
Father Vásconez explained that in addition to reserving time to pray in solitude before God, the life of prayer should also be a community experience. “The parish community is the space where we can share our faith, support each other and grow together in our relationship with God,” he noted.
In that sense, he recalled that “participating in the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharistic Adoration and other forms of prayer in community strengthens us and unites us as a Church,” and recommended “proposing to the parish priest the creation of spaces for prayer.” of mothers, classes on prayer or prayer workshops.”
“Community prayer reminds us that we are not alone on our spiritual path and that we are part of a great family of believers. “This sense of belonging and unity is crucial to fully living our faith and to carrying out the evangelizing mission of the Church,” he added.
2. Make your family a school of prayer
“Family prayer is essential. It is within the family where the values of faith and the importance of prayer must be cultivated and transmitted,” Father Vásconez stressed.
The priest explained that the mode and time of prayer can vary “according to family dynamics.” For example, he indicated that when children are young, “you can start with simple moments like praying before and after meals, at the beginning and end of the day.”
“When the children have grown a little more, you can propose that they pray Lauds on Sundays, or listen to a short meditation,” he said and commented that “there are many podcasts available” that can help with this purpose. However, he recalled that the important thing is to “create an environment of spirituality and communion.”
“These practices not only strengthen the family unit, but also teach the youngest to live their faith in a concrete and daily way. The family should be seen as the first place where we learn to dialogue with God, to thank Him and ask Him for help,” she highlighted.
3. Use meditations to learn to pray
Father Vásconez noted that in the tradition of the Catholic Church, “meditation is a very valuable form of prayer” and “a powerful tool for cultivating a richer and more meaningful spiritual life.” This “consists of a prayer guided by the priest that helps the faithful learn to treat God in a deeper and more personal way,” he said.
He explained that “through meditation, the priest guides the faithful in reflections on the Scriptures, the mysteries of faith, or specific spiritual topics.” Therefore, “this practice not only helps to deepen our knowledge of faith, but also fosters a more intimate relationship with God, as it teaches us to listen to and discern his will in our lives,” he added.
Although there are many platforms, Father Vásconez pointed out that in the Talking to Jesus website can be accessed for free through WhatsApp, Telegram, YouTube, Spotify to “podcasts, written meditations, and articles with advice for beginning and persevering in ongoing dealings with God through prayer.”
Cynthia Pérez has been an editor at ACI Prensa since January 2020. She resides in Lima (Peru). She has a bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Arts with a mention in Communication for Development from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). Throughout her career she has dedicated herself to the creation of multimedia content and the design and management of communication in organizations and social impact projects. She is passionate about creating narratives and interactive experiences that build a more humane and sustainable society.