Public prayer is a living thing, but that doesn’t mean anything goes

The personal prayer of believers is ordered and flows from the public prayer of the Church. The public prayer and worship of God is the height of the spiritual life.

There is no contradiction between the personal prayer of the Christian and the public prayer of the Church. The two are intended to intertwine in a beautiful synergy that directs the soul to God.

While the public prayer of the Church has undergone many developments within the past several decades, it should not be thought that it is somehow a free-for-all in which anyone can adjust or change it at their whim. The public prayer of the Church, along with its words, gestures, music, and language, belong to the Church herself and is under the direct care of the appointed shepherds of the Church. It is the shepherds of the Church who discern and guide developments to public prayer and worship.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “In the living tradition of prayer, each Church proposes to its faithful, according to its historic, social, and cultural context, a language for prayer: words, melodies, gestures, iconography.”

Abrupt changes to the words, melodies, gestures, and art of the public prayer of the Church, or whimsical changes on the local level, can cause great spiritual harm to the interior life of believers. Since the personal prayer of believers is connected to the public prayer of the Church, any developments to it must be led and directed solely by the shepherds of the Church who discern and seek to act according to the movements of the Holy Spirit.

The public prayer of the Church is “living,” since it moves through the ages and within all the cultures of the human family, and the Holy Spirit calls for developments to it according to the historical, social, and cultural in which the Church finds herself.

The Catechism continues: “The Magisterium of the Church has the task of discerning the fidelity of these ways of praying to the tradition of apostolic faith.”

As the Holy Spirit moves through the various historical, social, and cultural contexts of the human family, the shepherds of the Church evaluate and assess where and how the Holy Spirit is moving, and where and how he is not. There are many claims to “the Spirit” when changes are wanted, but the shepherds of the Church are the ones with the grace and authority to examine and decide where and how the Holy Spirit is moving and what he wants from the Church.

As the shepherds undergo such a review and look at the various areas relating to public prayer and worship, they use the doctrinal tradition to help them. As the maxim goes, “the law of prayer is the law of belief.” The two always complement one another. The Holy Spirit will never call for something that is in opposition to the teachings of the Lord Jesus.

When it comes to the spiritual life, the Holy Spirit is the source of vitality and inspiration. There is no higher authority. In their discernment, the shepherds of the Church do not take their duty lightly. They submit to the Holy Spirit since they understand that they are dealing and helping to navigate people’s spiritual lives and how they encounter God.

The public prayer and worship of the Church directs and shapes all areas of the interior life of believers and so shepherds give an attentive and watchful eye to its words, melodies, gestures, music, and art. There is nothing trivial about the areas relating to public prayer and worship.

As the shepherds make their decisions, it falls on local pastors to accept their guidance and direction and to teach the faithful why decisions have been made and how they can help us to be closer to God.

The Catechism reminds pastors: “It is for pastors and catechists to explain [the] meaning [of the words, melodies, gestures, and art], always in relation to Jesus Christ.”

The local pastors (and the catechists who assist them) are to take the responsibility of teaching very seriously. If the faithful do not know what the Church is doing or why, it is because they have not been taught by their pastor, who is their spiritual father and teacher in the ways of the Lord.

It is the duty and the joy of the local pastor, therefore, to instruct his people in all the areas of the spiritual life within the mystery of Jesus Christ. He is to always model a love for the Lord Jesus and a spirit of docility to the Holy Spirit through the decisions of the magisterium, the leading shepherds of the Church.

For more spiritual encouragement, please visit Father Kirby’s YouTube channel, Daily Discipleship with Father Kirby.