By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY – Mass is the highest form of prayer and not an appropriate moment for small talk , Pope Francis said .
At church , Catholics should spend their time in silence before Mass , preparing “ to meet with Jesus ” instead of engaging in “ chitchat ,” the pope said Nov . 15 during his weekly general audience .
“ Silence is so important ,” he said . “ Remember what I told you last time : we are not going to a show . Silence prepares
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us and accompanies us .”
The pope continued his new series of audience talks on the Mass , reflecting on the Eucharist as a form of prayer that is “ the highest , the most sublime and , at the same time , the most concrete ” way of encountering God ’ s love .
“ This is the greatest grace : to experience that the Eucharist is the privileged moment to be with Jesus and , through him , with God and with our brothers and sisters ,” the pope said .
In the Gospels , he continued , Jesus teaches his disciples that the first thing needed to pray “ is to know how to say ‘ father ’” and to trust in God with the humility of a child .
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Pope Francis poses with young people during his general audience in St . Peter ’ s Square at the Vatican Nov . 15 . ( CNS photo / Paul Haring )
Christians also must allow themselves to be “ surprised by the living encounter with the Lord ,” he said , and
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not simply “ talk to God like a parrot ,” repeating the words of prayers without thinking .
“ The encounter with God is a living encounter ,” the pope said departing from his prepared remarks . “ It is not an encounter of a museum , it is a living encounter . And we go to Mass , not a museum ! We go to a living encounter with the Lord .”
Pope Francis said the Mass is also a gift and a consolation where Christians discover that God ’ s greatest surprise is that he “ loves us even in our weakness .”
“ The Lord encounters our frailty ,” the pope said . “ This is the environment of the Eucharist . This is prayer .”
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