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00:00How are you, my dear brothers and sisters? It's so nice to greet you again in this course of Tras
00:24The Footprints of Pablo. A truly interesting course that for me has also been a
00:30An important moment for reflection, to revisit some of the concepts and to reread.
00:35These letters of Paul are truly a great treasure. And well, we left off in chapter 12,
00:43We are talking about the subject of prayer, and as I already told you at the beginning of chapter 12,
00:48There is so much material that we have to revisit it again, as we have done in other chapters,
00:52Returning to various topics we've been discussing there, following Saint Paul, we continue.
00:58with the topic of prayer. And one of the elements that I already mentioned in our previous chapter
01:04This is how the devil knows that this is the nerve center of spiritual life and that without it
01:16There is no progress on the Christian path. And obviously that is why he seeks and will continue to seek for everyone.
01:23the means by which we stray from it. Always keep in mind that it doesn't matter how far we've already come.
01:31Along the way, she will always try by any means to make us stray from her. It doesn't matter if
01:40Whether you've been on this path for 5, 10, 20, or 30 years, it will never leave you. It persecuted Jesus.
01:50all the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. That's where he went to pursue him. He pursued him all the way there. What do you think he'll do to you?
01:59He's going to pursue you, isn't he? I'd like to see some other recommendations that the apostle is going to give us.
02:11leaving, which is given to us through the exercise of prayer so that we can advance
02:18in this very important matter. And some of the recommendations that the apostle gives us in the exercise
02:28The purity of disposition is essential to prayer. Purity of disposition. In which all [unclear] must be excluded.
02:38malicious intent, all malicious intent, as he mentions in his letter to Timothy. Let's read this text
02:45which I find enlightening and important. 1 Timothy 2:8. Therefore, I want that in every place
02:55Men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument. In this regard, follow the instruction
03:07From the Gospel in which Jesus tells us, Matthew 5:23-24: Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar
03:16And then you remember that your brother has something against you, so leave your offering there. Leave your offering there on the altar.
03:25Go first and be reconciled to your brother. Then, once you are reconciled, come and offer your gift.
03:34Let's see how all of Paul's instruction harmonizes perfectly with the life of Jesus, with the instructions
03:43which Jesus himself has given us. We know that what Jesus asks of us is not always possible, at least not at first.
03:52intention, because both our hearts need to heal in order for us to reconcile. Therefore, also in chapter 5,
04:01In verse 44, Jesus also tells us, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
04:11In other words, all this sounds nice, but doing it and putting it into practice is not always so simple, it's not always so easy.
04:20And it is certainly true that we cannot control the feeling of offense within us, because our feelings
04:30We cannot control them. What we can control is the will that should lead us to prayer, on the one hand.
04:39and in it, virtue finds the way to suppress hatred and transform it into work.
04:47But if we do not pray, it will never be transformed and the feeling will remain rooted in the heart.
04:58Therefore, to the extent that we pray for God to bless our brother,
05:04That prayer not only has an effect on him, but also on ourselves.
05:09Well, that virtue, which is contrary to the feeling of anger, will gradually change.
05:18our heart, our feelings, to the point, says Jesus, of even coming to love him
05:26despite what he may have done against us.
05:29Obviously, all of this is a process. In the beginning, I mean, everything, remember that it's always about growth.
05:38That feeling will change as you pray.
05:43And well, first you'd want to grab him by the neck and turn him around.
05:47But you control that feeling, your will controls it, and then, with God's grace, you say
05:53Hello, how are you? And that's it, right? But inside he's really messed up, isn't he?
05:58Well, as time goes by you see that the feeling changes, and that hello
06:02It's no longer a resentful hello. If it's not a hello, maybe I still can't hug him, maybe I still can't.
06:08I can't do any more. But you'll see that if you practice this, the feeling will change.
06:15And this applies to all our feelings, of all kinds.
06:20Hate, hate, resentment, even love. Suddenly we fall in love with things or people we didn't know.
06:25We must. So we also have to pray, not to command them, right? But so that we can
06:31whether we have a healthy friendship or not have that situation of attachment to my car,
06:38to my house, and so on. Those are feelings, right? Envy. We have to pray about all of this.
06:44so that our lives also gradually disappear. Another fundamental element that it presents to us
06:51In this spirituality of Saint Paul, regarding prayer, it is joy. Especially
06:59When we pray for the conversion of our loved ones, of our communities. This is a testament to it.
07:06We find it in his letter to the Philippians, in which we see that this ingredient must
07:12be present also within us, in our own prayers. Let's begin by reading Philippians.
07:18Philippians 1:4 says the following: I always ask with joy, I always ask with joy in every
07:28One of my prayers is for all of you. Look how beautiful it is. I joyfully ask for your participation.
07:34participation in the gospel from the first day until now. And it truly is
07:39This is joyful, brothers and sisters. To see how people are being converted. And then we pray with them.
07:44With joy. Let us rejoice in our prayers for the participation of the people we love.
07:52in the mystery of Christ. But also with the hope that in the future, through our
07:57Through preaching and our testimony, those for whom we pray may experience grace.
08:04And the love of God. That's where we're going, because we say no, testing the waters.
08:13To the sweet potatoes, right? I mean, we're seeing how our prayer has a strong impact.
08:20in the lives of the brothers and sisters for whom we pray. Especially in our evangelization.
08:29One of the problems we encounter is that the father, the mother, my brother, the friend,
08:34Well, he doesn't want to accept the Lord's way. What should we do? We try to talk to him.
08:42And he doesn't listen to us. What's more, he attacks us, he's aggressive, he shuts down immediately. We must,
08:51There's a saying—I don't remember where I read it—that before you talk to your brother about God, talk to God.
09:00From your brother. Yes? I've seen this grace very clearly in my family and in many friends.
09:08and in many brothers and sisters, for whom I have prayed that they may come to know the love of God,
09:14The profound, the great, as we said in the letter to the Ephesians. And we see that, yes, indeed,
09:20This relationship develops, and this profound and serious change occurs in people. Suddenly
09:27We find that, well, they agree to go on a retreat. There's an experience of, if not,
09:38I'm mistaken, from Saint Ignatius of Loyola, in which he wanted, I don't remember exactly right now,
09:46I don't remember when I read his story, where he frequently invited a friend to be
09:54to his spiritual exercises, but he resisted, he didn't want to go, he didn't want to go, he didn't want to go.
10:00Saint Ignatius began to pray continually for him, continually praying for him and he kept urging him
10:06And he prayed and kept asking and praying. Until one day his friend, who was, according to this, told him
10:15The story of Saint Ignatius: he was very good at playing chess, and Saint Ignatius barely knew how to move the pieces.
10:23I don't know if he's a chess player, but it's a very complicated game because it's a strategy game.
10:29So, it's very complicated.
10:32And he said to her, "If you beat me in a game of chess, I'll retire."
10:38The friend, obviously thinking that if Ignacio barely knew how to move the pieces,
10:46He was unlikely to do it. So Ignatius prayed that night. He said, "Lord, you know how much I have prayed to you."
10:54So that this person will get to know you and love you. So I'm asking you to help me win this game.
11:02You know that I know nothing, but you are my Lord and you want this person to convert
11:08And he's a man of his word. I know that if he offered to go to the exercises, if I beat him, he'll go.
11:14So, look at Ignacio's audacity. So it's in your hands. Alright.
11:22You want him to be saved, to know God. Help me win this game.
11:28And obviously, you already know the ending. Ignacio won.
11:33His friend, with his eyes wide open, to begin with, couldn't understand how Ignacio could have beaten him.
11:41in a strategy game where this person, well, I don't know if he would be an expert,
11:47But he played much better than him. So how is it possible that he beat him? Well, he did.
11:53From that moment on, there was a first impact of grace on the person, and he fulfilled his promise.
11:58And that person went to the exercises and was converted. And not only was he converted,
12:04but he also entered the Society of Jesus with him. He became part of the religious life that Ignatius led.
12:13That is the impact of prayer when you pray, when you pray with faith.
12:18When you truly pray for a friend, for a community you love,
12:22that you are interested in him/her knowing God and being saved.
12:26That's why I was telling you, I always kneel before the Father to ask that this community
12:32I hope that those I am going to evangelize, these people I don't even know, can have this experience.
12:41through my humble participation. He will do the work.
12:46As I'm doing with you right now, well, I'm putting my charisma of preaching into practice.
12:50at the service of the church. But the work is done by God, not by me.
12:55I could have the best vibe in the world.
12:57But if I don't pray for you, hardly anything is going to happen.
13:04If you don't pay attention to all of this, even if you took the course first,
13:10And this and many more, if you don't pray and my prayer doesn't impact your life,
13:16Moreover, you wouldn't be watching this course you're watching right now, because that's the second one.
13:21It means that you were left with the idea of continuing, of progressing,
13:26to truly have an experience of God.
13:29Therefore, from this grace, from this prayer, the prayer of praise is derived.
13:36which we were already talking about earlier when I spoke a little bit about the renovation
13:42and from my charismatic experience. A prayer that, sadly,
13:47Outside of the charismatic renewal, it is rarely practiced in the church.
13:52This prayer is always joyful. It seeks to ponder all the wonders of God.
13:57in itself and in its action in us.
14:01In this sense, we could say that in the prayer of Saint Paul
14:04It is distinguished by being a prayer called Alleluiatic,
14:08He is always praising God and giving thanks for absolutely everything he has received.
14:13and for what he has not received and for what he will receive.
14:18And we can praise God for your conversions.
14:21Yes, thank God for the people who are watching this course right now,
14:25for the people who will see it later through my prayer.
14:28Blessed be the Lord, for you never fall short, you never come up short.
14:33You always go beyond what we ask of you, because you are interested in their being saved.
14:39And I rejoice in this, and it is my joy to do it.
14:44It doesn't matter if I'm healthy or not, as long as I can, I do it.
14:49And I do it with joy and in my prayer I say to Him, Lord, You are the one who will do the work.
14:54And I praise Him and bless Him and glorify Him, because He is the one who is doing the work in us,
14:59in all of us.
15:00Well, we'll leave our first video here and come back in a moment to continue our lesson.
15:06Until then.