Pope Francis asks to pray more and murmur less

“What would happen if we prayed more and murmured less?” Pope Francis asked this August 2 through his official profile on the social network X.

He then invited the faithful to ask the Lord for “the grace of knowing how to pray for one another.”

The Holy Father has published this message within the framework of the Year of Prayer 2024, which he proposed in preparation for the next Jubilee of Hope 2025.

The Pontiff inaugurated the “Year of Prayer” on January 21, and since then there have been numerous occasions on which he has invited the faithful to place themselves before the presence of the Lord, especially through the aforementioned social network with the hashtag #YearofPrayer.

Furthermore, throughout his Pontificate, he has reiterated many times the importance of avoiding murmuring and “gossip,” which he has come to refer to as “a plague in people’s life”.

After the Angelus prayer in September 2023, lamented that “the first thing that is usually created around someone who makes a mistake is gossip, in which everyone finds out about the mistake, with all the details, except the person affected. This is not right and does not please God,” he assured.

“I never tire of repeating that gossip is a plague in the lives of people and communities, because it brings division, suffering and scandal, and never helps to improve and grow,” the Holy Father reiterated.

In another timewarned that gossip is a “deadly poison” and something “very bad” that destroys “human communion.”

“Never speak ill of each other. If you have a problem with a sister or brother, go and tell them to their face. And if you can’t do it, swallow it, but don’t sow concerns that do harm and destroy,” the Holy Father advised.