“Kyrie, Alleluia, Amen”: the pastoral proposal 2022

Last updated June 24, 2022 – 11:43 am

(mi-lorenteggio.com) Milan, 24 June 2022 – «I propose to live in the next pastoral year – but with the aim that it becomes a constant practice – a particular attention to prayer. I do not intend to propose an encyclopedia of prayer, but to encourage people to check the way of praying in our communities. I have the impression that it is a practice too neglected by many, sometimes experienced as inertia and fulfillment, rather than as the necessity of the Christian life. That is, of a life lived in communion with Jesus, as indispensable as air for the lungs ». These are the words with which the archbishop of Milan, Msgr. Mario Delpini, introduces the Pastoral Proposal for the year 2022-2023, available from today in Catholic bookstores (Centro Ambrosiano, pp. 94, euro 4) and, in text format, on the diocesan portal at the following link:

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“Kyrie, Alleluia, Amen – Praying to live, in the Church as disciples of Jesus”: is the title of the document that the Archbishop wanted to prepare and disseminate in advance of the beginning of the pastoral year, traditionally set for 8 September , to allow parishes, pastoral communities and decanates to define activities and programs for the new year in harmony with what is proposed. For the same reason the text was presented by the Archbishop this morning to the 63 deans of the Diocese, at the Pastoral Center of Seveso.

The Proposal opens with a significant reference to Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, whose tenth anniversary of his death falls this year, and to his first pastoral letter, “The contemplative dimension of life”, published in 1980. “This letter – he writes the Archbishop – was surprising and providential and (…) I feel encouraged to offer our diocesan Church an invitation to return to that beginning ».

The first chapter of the Proposal is dedicated to a reflection on the authentic meanings of spirituality and prayer: «Spirituality – writes among other things Msgr. Delpini – is not reduced to a search for what makes me feel good, but becomes an itinerary, research. Men and women understand that the way to “feel good” is not the one that leads to turning in on oneself, but the one that leads to an encounter ». And again, the Archbishop underlines, “in our time, together with the need for” a spirituality “that many feel, it seems that there is also a widespread indifference, a quiet estrangement from the themes of prayer and the search for God”.

Msgr. Delpini: «No one – not even priests, not even committed Christians, not even men and women religious – is safe from the temptation to neglect prayer. Priests must ask people: how do you pray? When do you pray? How can I help you pray? And people have to ask the priests: how do you pray? When do you pray? How can we help you to pray? ».

In the following, the Proposal explores the dimension of community prayer during the celebrations as well as the experience of family prayer, rediscovered by many during the pandemic. Communities today are called to be “houses and schools of prayer” so that believers can enter into a relationship with God. However, specific and ongoing formation is necessary for those who teach how to pray. An important contribution can also be provided by people originating from other cultures who with “their liturgy, their theology, their spirituality and their pastoral care are a precious gift”.

The Letter also suggests some “good practices” for welcoming communities during celebrations. Special attention is paid to those with disabilities for whom, as far as possible, barriers must be broken down to allow them to participate in Mass. Technology can also offer important aids but must not replace functions. Regarding the Mass on television, “we cannot agree that it is a form equivalent to participation in presence”.

The central chapters illustrate and develop the three terms that give the title to the pastoral proposal: «Kyrie: the profession of faith in the form of invocation; Alleluia: the joy of Easter in the form of a choral song; Amen: the profession of faith in the form of obedience ».

The Archbishop then focuses on two particular “typologies” of prayer: that for vocations (“a way of reading one’s person, one’s history, in the light of the word of Jesus, in listening to the emotions that the Spirit arouses in each “) and, with an explicit reference to the situation in Ukraine, the prayer for peace: this cannot be reduced to an individual protest against war, but must” express the trust that God works in the hearts of people and in relations between peoples . Prayer is never a delegation to God to do what we don’t do. It is the time in which the gift of the Spirit conforms us to the Son and thus makes us men and women of peace ”.

Finally, the concluding part is dedicated to the presentation of some prayer experiences, with the proposal of possible evolutions and innovations. The reference is, for example, to the School of the Word, to liturgical groups in parishes, to groups for listening to the Word, to the animators of community prayer.

“Kyrie, Alleluia, Amen”: the pastoral proposal 2022-23 of the Archbishop is dedicated to prayer – MI-LORENTEGGIO.COM – THE LATEST NEWS OF CHRONICLE, POLITICS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, SPORT, PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF MILAN AND LOMBARDY