Pope Francis at the Angelus: When faith and prayer are true they open the mind and heart

This Sunday, Pope Francis, in his traditional speech prior to praying the Angelus in the Vatican, offered a reflection on the importance of true faith and prayer, capable of opening both the mind and the heart.

“Brothers and sisters, faith and prayer when they are true open the mind and heart, they do not close them. “When you find a person who, in his mind, in his prayer, is closed, that faith and that prayer are not true.” noted this August 11 before thousands of faithful.

During his message, the Pontiff called on the faithful to avoid falling into the trap of “preconceived ideas and presumption,” which, in his words, can block our ability to truly listen to God and open ourselves to his grace. .

“Beware of preconceived ideas and presumption! “They have their rigid schemes and there is no place in their hearts for what does not fit into them, for what they cannot catalog and file on the dusty shelves of their certainties,” he warned.

The Holy Father began his reflection by commenting on the day’s Gospel, in which the Jews are scandalized by Jesus’ claim to have “come down from heaven” (Jn 6:41-51). “They are convinced that Jesus cannot come from heaven, because he is the son of a carpenter and because his mother and his relatives are ordinary people, known, normal people, like so many others. How could God manifest himself in such an ordinary way?”, quoted the Pope, pointing out how these people were blocked in their faith.

Pope Francis warned about the dangers of having a closed mind and insisted that many times, even as religious people, “we carry out our religious practices not so much to listen to the Lord, but rather to find in them a confirmation of what we think.” .

“And so they are not able to believe. The closedness of the heart, how much damage it does, how much damage it does!

True faith and prayer, according to Pope Francis, must go beyond seeking confirmation of our own ideas. “Let’s pay attention to all this, because sometimes the same thing can happen to us too, in our lives and in our prayers,” he warned. He reiterated that this erroneous approach does not help us “to find God, to truly find him, nor to open ourselves to the gift of his light and his grace, to grow in goodness, to do his will and to overcome closures and difficulties.” ”.

Finally, the Pope invited the faithful to reflect on their life of faith, asking themselves if they are really willing to listen to God beyond their own schemes and fears. “Let us ask ourselves, then: In my life of faith, am I able to truly remain silent within myself and listen to God? “Am I willing to welcome his voice beyond my schemes and also overcome, with his help, my fears,” he asked.

“May Mary help us to listen with faith to the voice of the Lord and to courageously carry out his will,” Pope Francis concluded.