VATICAN CITY, NOV. 23, 2008 (
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Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, made these remarks on the most recent episode of the weekly Vatican Television program “Octavia Dies.”
“There is an interior and spiritual dimension of life that must be guarded and nourished. If it is not, it can become barren to the point of drying up and, indeed, dying” the Jesuit priest said.
“Reflection, meditation, contemplation are as necessary as breathing. Time for silence — external but above all internal — are a premise and an indispensable condition for it.”
Father Lombardi offered these reflections Friday on the occasion of “Pro Orantibus” Day, a day for men and women religious who dedicate themselves to a life of contemplation and prayer.
“In the age of the cell phone and the internet it is probably more difficult than before to protect silence and to nourish the interior dimension of life,” he observed. “It is difficult but necessary.
“For believers, in this dimension prayer, dialogue with God is developed, life in the spirit, which is more important that physical life itself. Jesus told us not to fear those who can kill the body as much as the one who can destroy our soul.»
“What is true for the individual person, is true for the community of the Church, true for humanity,» the spokesman continued. «If for each one of us it is essential to know how to preserve dialogue with God in daily life, for the Church it is essential to have the sign and reality of life dedicated to contemplation and prayer, and for humanity it is essential to know there are beacons of light, sages and masters of the spirit.”
Without attentiveness to and cultivation of the spiritual life “you will lose your soul,» added Father Lombardi. «And today this is a very grave threat, and it is the most irreparable misfortune.”
