Shades of Meaning

Prayer is the primordial form of trust:

The vocabulary of supplication in the New Testament is rich in shades of meaning: ask, beseech, plead, invoke, entreat, cry out, even ‘struggle in prayer.’

Its most usual form, because the most spontaneous, is petition: by prayer of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God (CCC 2629).

There are many voices in our secular city – perhaps, too, in our Church – who oppose the simple prayer of petition.

But life is full of petitions – especially at home, at work.

What would happen to our relationships if requests ceased?

Amen.