Monsignor Silvio José Báez, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, urged us to pray to God for all social problems, “knowing that he always listens to us.”
In his homily this Sunday, July 24, from the Santa Agatha church in Miami, United States, the religious taught that prayer is not a simple act of piety, “nor a rite to invoke magical solutions, evading our commitment to life”.
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“By praying we become more aware of our responsibilities. We pray not to cross our arms, but to allow the strength of God to illuminate our hearts, purify our intentions and strengthen our will (…) Who prays to a God who is a Father, always sees others as brothers, “he reflected.
Alluding to the political prisoners, the exiles and the imprisonment of the priests Leonardo Urbina and Manuel Salvador García, Báez indicated that in prayer “we also welcome social pain in our hearts: the drama of the poor, the suffering of political prisoners and exiles, the anxiety of a persecuted Church and the humiliation of priests accused with hatred and irregularly».
Báez expressed that in the face of all the suffering Nicaraguans experience, “it is not enough to speak, we must also turn it into a prayer to make it reach God, in the form of a humble plea, an indignant question or a silent tear. Certainly “praying is not enough”, but for a Christian it is also true that “talking and acting is not enough”.
“On a social level, the greatest contribution that Christians can offer is our prayer (…) By praying we make it possible for God to mysteriously fertilize history and transform society with our collaboration and through our actions,” the prelate remarked.
Ask, search and call
On the other hand, the Catholic leader explained that the prayer described by Jesus Christ is based on three verbs, “very significant: ask, seek and call: “I tell you: ask and God will give you; seek and you will find; knock and God will open to you. Because everyone who asks, receives; If you search you will find; and to whom he calls, God will open “(Lk 11,9-10)”, he quoted.
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“Asking is the proper attitude of the poor. This is how we should pray. As poor, aware of our fragility and indigence, without any trace of pride or self-sufficiency. Asking God is not imposing our whim on him, nor indicating what he should do. We ask him not because he doesn’t know what we need, but because we need to purify our search for what is necessary,” he noted.
However, Báez said that prayer is not just asking, but that “whoever prays is also willing to seek what they ask for, to move, to take concrete steps to achieve what they want to receive from God. When we pray seeking, we are not paralyzed by uncertainty, failure, or fear.
«“Search” is an invitation to always discern with wisdom and docility to the Spirit the will of the Lord. “Searching” means striving to always find new ways to express love to our brothers and sisters and to announce the Gospel in the world. Praying is also “seeking” », he added.
“Do not sink into loneliness”
In relation to the political context that Nicaragua is experiencing, the bishop emphasized that in “moments of darkness and suffering, one must not sink into solitude. When God seems silent, he is actually speaking to us in another way. Not even in the thickest darkness, God is far away.
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«We must learn from Jesus to call our Father God, crying out with confidence from the contradictions, conflicts and problems of life. We must trust that no cry that springs from human pain remains unanswered by our Father God.
“Let us learn to pray as Jesus teaches us. Let’s spend time in prayer. In prayer we will meet a God who does not impose himself on us, but who welcomes us as a Father, inviting us to collaborate with him. A God who only asks us to allow him to be our Father and our Friend. Prayer will make us live more serene and with less fear, we will be more human and joyful », he concluded.
