We end our series of reflections on the Year of Prayer where it began—with Pope Francis. We hope that these reflections have been helpful to you, your friends, and your family. The Holy Father convoked this Year of Prayer so that we might more readily enter the joyous festivity of the Jubilee Year 2025 with renewed vigour in our Christian faith, and we hope that our brief look at prayer through the eyes of the saints and the liturgy might help our listeners prepare for the great Jubilee. To close this Year of Prayer, then, perhaps let us allow Pope Francis to speak to us. Prayer is important for all the reasons we have covered this year, but perhaps an underrated reason for prayer is that Christ himself—God made flesh—also prayed! In the Gospels, the Pope tells us,

we learn that Jesus not only wants us to pray as he prays, but assures us that, even if our attempts at prayer are completely vain and ineffective, we can always count on his prayer. We must be aware of this: Jesus prays for me. Once, a good bishop told me that in a very bad moment in his life, a great trial, a moment of darkness, he looked up in the Basilica and saw this phrase written: “I, Peter, will pray for you”. And this gave him strength and comfort. And this happens every time that each of us knows that Jesus prays for him or for her. Jesus prays for us. In this moment, in this very moment. Do this memory exercise, repeat this. When there is a difficulty, when you feel the orbital pull of distractions: Jesus is praying for me. But, father, is this true? It is true! He said it himself. Let us not forget that what sustains each of us in life is Jesus’ prayer for every one of us, with our first and last name, before the Father, showing him the wounds that are the price of our salvation.

May our prayers become one with Christ’s prayer that we might be one with him.