The Christian as Christ
Publish date 27-03-2025
We have seen that our prayer must be that of Jesus, and that this prayer must be transformed into an attitude of life.
The “Our Father” becomes a prayer when we go through the same experience as Jesus, taking on his way of seeing, of thinking, of being in relationship with the Father and with our brothers, and abandoning the way of seeing and thinking that we are naturally inclined and accustomed to having.
Abandoning my way of seeing to take on that of Jesus is not something that can be achieved immediately, but is a path that will occupy me for my entire life. In addition to putting all my effort into it, I know that I am permanently supported by the grace of God.
When I am about to end my life, when I am already on my deathbed, I will still have to try to continue the path of conversion, because perhaps there will still be in me ways of seeing that are “mine” and not his, my scale of values will not yet coincide perfectly with his.
Jesus must become the norm of my behavior, and the Gospel must be my constant reference, so that I can live like him and with him at every moment. And in the Gospel we note a fundamental thing: Jesus does not appear to us in communion with the Father only when he prays, but also when he acts, teaches, works. Jesus is in communion with the Father, and therefore for that very reason he prays, constantly (e.g. John 14:10–11).
When we speak of communion with God, we immediately think of the Eucharist, then of prayer. It is difficult for us to think that we can be in communion with God through action.
And yet it is possible, if we become attentive to ensuring that through all our way of thinking, speaking, acting, we let God act, that God loves. Our communion with him must be born from the profound awareness of this action of God through us.
from Progetto (now NP) October 1992 - p. Mario Nascimbeni
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