Every Catholic in the world should try to set aside up to five minutes a day to meditate on the words of Psalm 102, Pope Francis said at morning Mass today.
In his homily in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, he said: “Pray all of this psalm and with this we learn the things we must say to the Lord when we request a grace. ‘You who are Merciful and forgiving, grant me this grace:’ just as Abraham did and as Moses did.”
Reflecting on today’s First Reading he said: “Abraham is a courageous man and prays with courage.” Abraham, he said, “finds the strength to speak face to face with the Lord and attempts to defend that city.”
According to Vatican Radio Pope Francis said that prayer required courage and tenacity.
He said: “When we speak of courage we always think of apostolic courage – going out to preach the Gospel, these sort of things … But there’s also [the kind of] courage [demonstrated] before the Lord. That sense of paralysis before the Lord: going courageous before the Lord to request things.
“It makes you laugh a bit; this is funny because Abraham speaks with the Lord in a special way, with this courage, and one doesn’t know: is this a man who prays or is this a‘phoenician deal’ because he’s bartering the price, down, down… And he’s tenacious: from 50 he’s succeeded in lowering the price down to ten. He knew that it wasn’t possible. Only that it was right…. But with that courage, with that tenacity, he went ahead.”
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