Prayer and Life
62. It should never be forgotten that prayer constitutes an essential part of Christian life, understood in its fullness and centrality. Indeed, prayer is an important part of our very humanity: it is "the first expression of man's inner truth, the first condition for authentic freedom of spirit."[156]
Far from being a form of escapism from everyday commitments, prayer constitutes the strongest incentive for the Christian family to assume and comply fully with all its responsibilities as the primary and fundamental cell of human society. Thus the Christian family's actual participation in the Church's life and mission is in direct proportion to the fidelity and intensity of the prayer with which it is united with the fruitful vine that is Christ the Lord.[157]
The fruitfulness of the Christian family in its specific service to human advancement, which of itself cannot but lead to the transformation of the world, derives from its living union with Christ, nourished by Liturgy, by self-oblation and by prayer.[158]
Source notes
[156] Paul VI, John Paul II, Address at the Mentorella Shrine (Oct. 29, 1978): Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, I (1978), 78 s.
[157] Cf. Second Vatican Council Apostolicam actuositatem, 4.
[158] Cf. John Paul I, Address to the Bishops of the 12th Pastoral Region of the United States (Sept. 21, 1978): AAS 70 (1978), 767.
Source: Familiaris Consortio (Vatican.va) · © Libreria Editrice Vaticana