00:00Hello dear brothers and sisters. It's great to be with you again, and I'm so happy to greet you. I'm Father Ernesto María Caro.
00:05And we are in these capsules that we call knowing in order to love, as Saint Augustine said, I cannot love what I do not know
00:13And there are some things that, due to deficiencies in our catechesis and the excessive noise that suddenly arises within our religious environments
00:20Sometimes we don't know or sometimes we haven't fully understood some of the important elements for our Christian life
00:28And well, this is the case now of Matilde, Matilde writes to us from Peru and tells us
00:35Father, I have a question. I belong to an intercessory prayer group and I'm not quite sure what this refers to.
00:43The explanations I've been given have confused me, which is perhaps why the sentence seems so long.
00:49It says it lasts about an hour and a half, after this little while of praying I don't know what to say anymore
00:55I await your response, thank you.
00:58Well then, my dear Matilde
01:18I will begin by saying that intercessory prayer is a very important prayer within the spirituality of the church.
01:26for it is the foundation of all the activity of those who are called to pastoral work
01:33It is also a form of prayer in which a number of people come together to pray for the same intention.
01:41usually from the same community or from some brothers who are interested in this type of prayer
01:50We all say this prayer in a regular way when someone asks us to pray for them.
01:58If someone tells me to pray for a person, then I am offering a prayer of intercession.
02:02However, in a group, this prayer is raised to God in the name of the person or the need that has been requested of us.
02:11However, like all church prayers, it is a prayer in which there can be different moments
02:18such as praise, thanksgiving, or petition
02:23These three moments alternate throughout the entire prayer process
02:28the difference in this particular sentence compared to other sentences
02:34It is that at all times one seeks to be in communion with the intention for which one is praying.
02:40Thus, when we praise, what we are doing is blessing and glorifying God for the gifts and graces received by this person.
02:48for whom one is interceding
02:50By asking, we join with the one who is asking.
02:53even seeking to feel with the same person what they are asking for
02:58And finally, in thanking them, we express our gratitude for the favor we know they have received.
03:05or that the person for whom it is being requested will receive
03:08And so we join in a form of gratitude for what is received or for what is to be received
03:16If we add to this dynamic the act of listening to God through his word
03:22in order to be able to give a word from God to the one who is requesting our prayer.
03:27An hour and a half is a very limited amount of time.
03:31Remember what Jesus proposes to us in the example
03:34of a widow who incessantly went to the judge to be heard
03:38You can find it there in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18
03:42The judge finally granted the woman's plea because she was constantly
03:48She keeps saying, "Well, I'm not very good, and I'm not very interested in this lady."
03:53But so that he stops bothering me, I'm going to grant him what he asks for.
03:57then it is the prayer of intercession
04:00It's something I'm constantly asking for, asking for, asking for.
04:04The Lord will know when to grant us this grace.
04:08The Lord does the same with those who never stop calling on Him and asking Him.
04:14Ask the Lord to give you the gift of praying for others
04:18because all prayer is definitely a gift
04:22Ask Him for this gift, ask Him for the gift of praying and praying for others
04:27This requires a lot of love, a lot of empathy for the person we are asking for.
04:32so that with the same intention and with the same fervor as the other person asks
04:37Let us also ask for intercessors
04:39So, well, I hope this sheds a little more light on things for you.
04:43and encourage you further to continue in your intercessory prayer group
04:47And well, that's all for today's segment.
04:49May the Lord bless you, and bless you all.
04:53And we'll see you in our next capsule.
04:55Until then, thank you.
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