The Prayer of Jesus
CTS Notes on Prayer Book 3
Juan López Vergara
Pope Francis (Preface)
ISBN 9781784698270
This is volume 3 of a new 8 volume set released for the Jubilee 2025, and the sixth I have read. All 8 volumes have the same preface from Pope Francis. Each volume is by a different author. The books were originally released in Italian, and have since been released in Europe by the CTS, and there are forthcoming edition by Our Sunday Visitor for North American Release. The original series and the CTS editions are marked as ‘Notes on Prayer’, the OSV editions the series is called ‘Exploring Prayer’. Some of the titles are different between the two editions and one even has an Americanized name for the author. My recommendation is to get the CTS editions, they are excellent. But back to this sixth read which is of the third volume.
The description of this volume states:
“Juan López Vergara offers a meditation on how Jesus always prayed, calling God Abba (Dad), and teaching his followers to do the same. Vergara presents a model for our own prayer and invites us to deepen our relationship with God, our loving Father.
“Prayer is the breath of faith; it is its most proper expression. Like a silent cry that issues from the hearts of those who believe and entrust themselves to God.” – Pope Francis
In this third of eight booklets on prayer, Juan López Vergara offers a meditation on how Jesus always prayed, calling God Abba (Dad), and teaching his followers to do the same. Taking many instances where Jesus addresses his father with this familiarity and love, Vergara presents a model for our own prayer and invites us to deepen our relationship with God, our loving Father.”
The chapters in this volume are:
Preface by Pope Francis
Abba, your goodness has clouded my eyes, and from the depths of my heart T bless you
Abba, your Word is a torch for my footsteps
Abba, today I confirmed that I am dreaming your own dreams
Abba, my mother hastened the beginnings of the
Abba, your providential love embraces everything
Abba, I ask you to give courage and enthusiasm to those who decide to follow me
Abba, I taught them that learning to pray is learning to hope, and therefore learning to live
Abba. I bless you, you have entrusted and transmitted everything to me
Abba, today I encouraged them to come to me
Abba, Peter's words stirred my soul
Abba, I proclaimed that unless a grain of wheat dies, it remains just a grain of wheat
Abba, today I revealed that whoever decides to come after me, after suffering, will see the light
Abba, I bless you for confirming my primary mission
Abba, the mission entrusted to me is brought to life through prayer
Abba, I shared your wonderful joy
Why, Abba, why?
Abba, take this cup from me, but not what I will, but what you will
Abba, I now understand with my life what I have revealed
Abba, I promised the repentant criminal that today he would be with me in paradise
Thank you, Abba, for listening to me
I only highlighted a few passages while reading this volume, some of them are:
“After thirty years spent in the silence and remoteness of an obscure village in Galilee, Jesus enters the desert and listens to the Baptist, a witness to the truth. John never refers to himself, but to someone greater than himself. The Nazarene comes to John as if he were the last of sinners, and bowing his head in humility he is baptised in the Jordan.”
“Mary, listener of the Word, a woman fil led with gratitude, who had brought grace to John the Baptist, was changed after her meeting with Jesus in the Temple. Neither she nor her beloved husband understood this. The nature of her son's response made her return to Nazareth transformed, with a heart felt deep understanding, for Mary kept al l these things in her heart.
She knew that her son's life sprang from the living and eternal Word of God; and day by day he was nourished by it.”
“The wine is finished, and the flavour of a true feast is greatly missing' At the news, Mary's heart was startled, and, without saying more, she intervened, convinced that she was going to be cared for. Her son would provide the ultimate and best wine. And so, it was. He was the wine of the feast, symbol of a superior and transcendent event:”
“She, with that serenity so much hers, Abba, impregnated with tenderness, which springs from her clean and humble heart, took no notice, and ordered the servants to do as I told them.”
“Abba, my most holy mother, intervened with that smile of hers, and, giving life to her prophetic words, she hastened the beginning of the Gospel.”
“Among the houses, the squares, the crowded streets, Jesus was thinking how his existence had become interwoven with the threads of attachments and detachments. He withdrew in search of solitude. A deep and constant desire inhabited him, it was essential for him to be with his Abba. His prayer was incessant and tireless!”
“I believe, Abba, in your love. And with greater depth grows in me the consciousness of absolute dependence on you, which frees me toward wider horizons.
I exhorted them to learn to look beyond themselves, Abba, to grow with confidence in the goodness of life, to not worry about the future anymore than the birds.”
“Jesus's actions in his Galilean homeland were characterised by his continuous travels through cities and villages, announcing the reign of God. He was accompanied by his inner circle of disciples and a significant group of women. The impression caused by his encounters with God, whom he invoked as his Abba, was enormous.”
“He used to remain in prayer from midnight until dawn, convinced that he who knows how to pray well knows how to live well. His message was inseparable from his person. He revealed God's being with his own ways of acting.”
“Later, when I was with my friends, Abba, they asked me why they had not been able to expel the spirit as I had. I explained to them that trust in you is the key, and it grows with every encounter with you. I begin and end the day with my eyes turned toward you. I need to be with you to receive your peace, to see things from your light.”
“Prayer is the door, Abba, but it is not improvised, it is prepared, it leads to the surrender of what has been undertaken. That is why I answered them that this kind cannot be delivered with anything but prayer.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for this volume. There were many things in this volume that caught my attention. But I have mixed feelings about this offering. It in many ways reads like a diary or prayer journal of Jesus’s thoughts and reflections around different times he prayed during his ministry. My concern is it so humanized Jesus it appears to strip some of his divinity, for example a section states he needed to grow in ‘grace and perfection’ p.81 and also the question of will anyone be in Hell or even Judas being restored p.77. There was much that caused me to slow down and take note in this work but also much that caused me concern. I really liked the concept but feel it lacked on execution. The other 5 volumes I have reviewed in the series all have 5/5 stars this one was a 4 but would have given 3.5 if I could.
I jumped around and was not reading these books in order my first time through, but already have plans to reread them again, but am uncertain if I would read this one a second time. I had planned to reread them in order.
The description of the series on the CTS site states:
“The “Notes on Prayer” series is an inspiring collection of eight booklets from the Vatican, designed to deepen and enrich the prayer lives of Catholics as they journey through the Year of Jubilee 2025, themed “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Each booklet in this series is a powerful resource, offering spiritual guidance, reflections, and wisdom from Church teachings, Sacred Scripture, and the lives of the saints. Whether you’re seeking personal renewal or walking the path of forgiveness and reconciliation, this series will help you grow in intimacy with God during this special time of grace.”
The first five books in this series I have great to read, this one was not as good but interesting, and I only have 2 to go; across the 8 volumes we have over 700 pages of instruction on prayer. It is an excellent collection; these books would be good for any school, home, or church library. I can recommend this book and the series as a whole is great. I encourage you to give them a read!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.
Notes on Prayer Series:
1. Prayer Today: A Challenge to Overcome - Cardinal Angelo Comastri
2. Praying with the Psalms - Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
3. The Prayer of Jesus – Juan Lopez Vergara
4. Praying with Saints and Sinners - Fr Paul Brendan Murray, OP
5. The Parables of Prayer – Msgr Antonio Pitta
6. The Church in Prayer - Carthusian Monks
7. The Prayer of Mary and the Saints Who Met Her - Sr Catherine Aubin, OP
8. The Prayer Jesus Taught Us: Our Father - Fr Ugo Vanni
…
Original Italian Editions
CTS Editions English
OSV English Editions
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