The Second Vatican Council strongly affirmed  the liturgy as the primary prayer of the church. Instead of devotional or other prayer forms,  the council affirmed that the liturgy is the primary place where we grow in our faith. (Lex orandi, lex credendi)

Pope Leo recently spoke about the primacy of liturgical and community prayer in his first catechesis on the Second Vatican Council. When we pray in the liturgy “ we do not decide what to hear from the Word of God, but God Himself speaks to us through the Church.”

Affirming the primacy of liturgical prayer doesn’t mean we have to give up devotions or prayer forms that we find helpful. It means we make the the liturgy the main prayer  where God speaks to us, where we face the questions of the day and where we become aware of the signs of the time. 

The liturgy is not as orderly as a course in theology or as simple as devotional prayer might be.  It’s challenging in its complexity. This week, for example, we’re reading from the 1st Book of Samuel, a summary of Jewish history and a work of  narrative theology that poses some tough questions.  We are reading from St. Mark’s Gospel, a sophisticated presentation of the ministry of Jesus Christ, commentators point out. 

This week is also when we pray for Christian unity; we’re asked to pray for and reflect on the unification of the Christian churches.  Thursday is a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. We celebrate the feasts of St. Agnes, St. Francis de Sales and St. Sebastian this week. 

There’s a lot going on in our liturgy. Too much to take in, we might say, and turn to another way of prayer,  or not pray at all.

Liturgy is described as a work.  It’s a work of the church and it can be hard work.

We need the guidance of the Holy Spirt to find the treasure in this field. As Pope Leo says, “we do not decide what to hear from the Word of God, but God himself speaks to us through the Church,”

One of the most important missions of my community, the Passionists, in the church is to be teachers of prayer. “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” We are called to teach people how to listen.

This blog tries to do that.