   At the mid-week general audience on Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI continued his catechesis on Christian prayer taking an intercessory prayer by the prophet Elijah as an example. He urged the faithful to follow the prophet’s model and to be more convinced of the power of intercessory prayer, so that, he continued, “we can help all people to know the one true God, to turn away from every form ...» Thousands of pilgrims and visitors withstood the high midday temperatures in St Peter’s Square this June Wednesday to hear the latest instalment in Pope Benedict XVI’s series of lessons on Christian prayer, this week focusing on the power of intercessory prayer, drawn from the biblical episode of Elijah’s prayer on Mount Carmel. Drawing from the passage recounted in Kings, Pope Benedict spoke of the prophet’s challenge to the priests of the idol Baal, whom the people of Israel believed to gift rain and fertility for their harvests. “At a time when the kingdom of Israel saw the spread of Baal-worship and syncretism, Elijah invited the people to renew their covenant with the Lord and to reject every form of idolatry. In the episode of his contest with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (cf. 1 Kg ...» |