There are several definitions of prayer. But it is most often called talk, a conversation, a colloquy with God. Conversing with someone, not only do we speak but we also listen. Prayer, therefore, is also listening. It consists of listening to hear the interior voice of grace. Listening to hear the call. And then, as you ask me how the Pope prays, I answer you: like every Christian — he speaks and he listens all the more. The most important thing is precisely what he “hears.” And he also tries to unite prayer with obligations, his activities, his work, and to unite his work with prayer. In this way, day after day, he tries to carry out his “service,” his “ministry,” which comes to him from the will of Christ and from the living tradition of the Church.
John Paul II,
Address to the Institut Catholique, Paris (June 1, 1980)
from The Wisdom of John Paul II, p. 59.
