United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

476 • Part IV. Prayer: The Faith Prayed

THE WORK OF PRAYER Prayer requires time, attention, and effort. We need to discipline ourselves for what spiritual writers call “spiritual combat.” They cite problems such as acedia (a form of sloth or laziness) that arises from a lax ascetical behav ior, a laxity that needs to be corrected. The Tempter will try to pull us away from prayer. Distraction and dryness will discourage us. The remedy is faith, fidelity to times for prayer, constant conver sion of heart, and watchfulness. The Catechism ’s section “The Battle of Prayer” (CCC, nos. 2725-2745) answers many questions that beginners are likely to ask. Its advice is practical and experiential. For example, the section addresses the issue of distraction, a major obstacle for most beginners. Distractions interfere with all forms of prayer. The temptation to fight them entraps one; all that is needed is to turn back to the pres ence of the Lord in our hearts. A distraction reveals our attachments, but a humble awareness of this can move us to offer Christ our hearts for the needed purification. PRAY ALWAYS (1 THES 5:17) It is often said that we should pray as if everything depended on God and act as if everything depended on us. The “can-do” mindset of our culture inclines many believers to substitute self-reliance for prayer. People are not conscious of their need for God. Despite the general cultural preference for an independent spirit that idealizes the achievements of the self in getting things done, stud ies about religion indicate a significant counter movement. Virtually all Americans claim they believe in God. A high number of people report they pray each day. Within our Church, spirituality movements, including traditional schools of spirituality such as Benedictine, Carmelite, Franciscan, and Ignatian, stress the importance of liturgical and meditative prayer. In addition, new immigrants enrich the life of the Church through their traditions of popular piety. For example, devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, begun in Mexico, has spread to the point where her feast is now celebrated throughout the American continent.