The School Of Jesus

 Pope Benedict XVI introduced his next topic for his Wednesday audience catecheses; it is the subject of Christian Prayer. The Holy Father began his introduction outlining what he intends to cover in this series. He intends to draw from Scripture, the Liturgy, and the Church Fathers. This statement from his introduction seems to be a keynote of why he is beginning this series:

"We know", he said, "that prayer should not be overlooked. It is necessary to learn how to pray, almost learning this art ever anew. Even those who are very advanced in their spiritual lives always feel the need to attend the school of Jesus in order to learn how to truly pray".

The Holy Father emphasizes the importance of prayer in the spiritual life, no matter how far advanced a soul may be. I think anyone who is serious about leading a devout, spiritual life has come to know first hand the importance of prayer. It is God's way of communicating with us, and our way of communicating with Him whether it is through prayerful reading of Scripture, the Mass, formal prayers like the Rosary, or sitting before Him in the Tabernacle or Adoration Chapel where we can speak to Him informally from our hearts or sit in silent adoration and listen to Him.
The Apostles asked Jesus to teach them to pray. The Holy Father uses that request from Jesus' Apostles to remind us that we need to be in the "school of Jesus" in order to learn to pray and thereby deepen our relationship with Him.
I am looking forward to this series from Pope Benedict XVI. You can read the introduction to this series here. I will continue to post these lessons from our Holy Father as they become available.