A 03 - One thing needs stressed these texts make

3. One thing needs to be stressed: these texts do not make any distinction between individual and corporate prayer. For the authors of the catechisms the thing is quite simple: they see the Church, that is to say us, as members of a community forming a whole. But they also distinguish the individuals who constitute this whole. One cannot ask whether it is Christians who pray or the Church. There is no such alternative; for when Christians pray, it is the Church, and when the Church prays, it is Christians. There can be no opposition between these two.

Perhaps it is an indication of sickness in the Church that such questions as these can be asked : How ought I to pray, in my room, for my own spiritual needs? And how ought the Church, on its side, to pray? And so a special interest comes to be directed to prayer in the Church and the ’liturgical question’! Is this not a sign of disease? For the Reformers there is no ’liturgical question’ : one prays in church and at home. They are not concerned to draw a distinction between private prayer and corporate prayer; what does concern them is the necessity of praying and praying well. This is perhaps a point which should be kept in mind. When secondary matters assume importance, it is the sign of some spiritual weakness.