Prayer of praise makes us fruitful: Pope Francis

Vatican City, 28 January 2014: The prayer of praise makes us fruitful, said Pope Francis on Tuesday morning during Mass he celebrated in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. The Pope commenting on the joyful dance of King David to the Lord mentioned in the First Reading of the Liturgy, pointed out that, if we choose formalities, our prayer becomes cold and sterile.

Referring to the dance of king David mentioned in the Second Book of Samuel, Pope Francis said that all the People of God was celebrating because the Ark of the Covenant has come home. The prayer of praise of David, he continued, "led him to move beyond all composure and dancing before the Lord" with "all his might." This was just the prayer of praise! Observed the Pontiff, adding that the prayer of praise is a Christian prayer for all of us!

We need to pray "with all our heart," said the Pope, adding "It is also an act of justice, because our God is great!

"The joy of praise – noted Pope Francis - leads us to the joy of the feast. The Pope recalled that when David fells within the palace, the daughter of King Saul, Michal scolded him and asked him if he does not feel ashamed for having danced like that in front of everyone.
And the Bible says that Michal remained sterile for life for this! What does the Word of God say here, asked the Poe. What a joy, that the prayer of praise makes us fruitful !

“The joy of praise,” said Pope Francis, “leads us to the joy of the feast - the feast of the family.” The Pope went on to recall how, when David returned to the palace, Michal, the daughter of King Saul, scolded him and asked him if he did not feel ashamed for having danced like that in front of everyone, he, who is the king. Michal “despised David”:

“I wonder sometimes how many times we despise good people in our hearts, good people who praise the Lord as it comes to them, so spontaneously, because they are not cultured, because they do not follow the formalities? [I mean really] despise [them]? The Bible says that, because of this, Michal remained sterile for the rest of her life. What does the Word of God mean, here? [It means] that joy, that the prayer of praise makes us fruitful! Sarah danced in the great moment of her fecundity – at the age of ninety! The fruitfulness that praise of the Lord gives us, the gratuity of praising the Lord: that man or that woman who praises the Lord, who prays praising the Lord, who, when praying the Gloria is filled with joy at doing so, and who, when singing the Sanctus in the Mass rejoices in singing it, is a fruitful person.”

On the other hand, warned Pope Francis, “Those, who are closed in the formality of a prayer that is cold, stingy [It. misurata], might end up as Michal, in the sterility of her formality.” Source: VR Sedoc