There are people who think that praying or examining one's conscience is a waste of time and separates us from others. But this is not so, quite the contrary. All the sages have pointed to contemplation as a prerequisite for seeing reality correctly. Without prayer (dialogue with God) and contemplation it is not possible to go out of oneself to help others. This is especially necessary for educators and in general for every Christian, since we all have a responsibility to help others on the way to God. This is one of the basic themes of Pope Francis' exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.

            Contemplation of our urban culture. The Pope keeps in mind that the goal of our salvation, Heaven, is not simply a place or a state but also a city. From the contemplation of the heavenly city he draws the motive for his reflection on the challenges of urban cultures:

             "The new Jerusalem, the Holy City (cf. Rev 21:2-4), is the destination towards which all humanity is on pilgrimage. It is striking that revelation tells us that the fullness of humanity and of history is realized in a city. We need to recognize the city from a contemplative gaze, that is, a gaze of faith that discovers the God who dwells in its homes, in its streets, in its squares. God's presence accompanies the sincere searches that people and groups make to find support and meaning in their lives. He lives among citizens, promoting solidarity, fraternity, the desire for good, for truth, for justice. This presence must not be fabricated but discovered, unveiled. God does not hide himself from those who seek him with a sincere heart, even if they grope for him in a vague and diffuse way"(Evangelii Gaudium, n. 71).

            Francis continues: "In the city, the religious aspect is mediated by different lifestyles, by customs associated with a sense of the temporal, of the territorial and of relationships, which differs from the style of rural dwellers. In their daily lives, citizens often struggle to survive, and in these struggles is hidden a profound sense of existence that often involves a deep religious sense as well. We need to contemplate it in order to achieve a dialogue like the one the Lord had with the Samaritan woman at the well where she sought to quench her thirst (cf. Jn 4:7-26)"(Evangelii Gaudium, n. 72).

            2. Contemplation to go out of ourselves towards others. From there, he proposes to reject a "spiritualistic" spirituality (individualistic, intimate) and basically selfish. In addition to saying "no", in the social environment, to the exclusion of the poor, to the idolatry of money, to inequality and violence, and in evangelizers, to selfish lukewarmness, sterile pessimism and spiritual worldliness, we must say "Yes to the new relationships generated by Jesus Christ".

            In this framework the Pope proposes going out of ourselves, overcoming distrust of others and defensive attitudes of our comfort, going to meeting of others, of their real faces (needs, pains, joys), refusing to isolate ourselves in a spiritual life that distances us from them, becoming individualistic or comfortable. And all this implies that we must learn to discover Jesus in the face of others, "even when we receive unjust aggressions or ingratitude, without ever tiring of opting for fraternity" (n. 91).

            What we must seek," he points out, "is a mystical, contemplative fraternity that knows how to look at the sacred greatness of its neighbor, that knows how to discover God in every human being, that knows how to tolerate the discomforts of living together while clinging to the love of God, that knows how to open its heart to divine love in order to seek the happiness of others as its good Father seeks it" (n. 92).

            3. Contemplation in order to know how to communicate the message of the Gospel and to communicate it in a way staff. What is said of the preacher, that he should be "contemplative", is also true for the educator or formator, and in general for every Christian: he should be "a contemplative of the Word and a contemplative of the people" (n. 154). That is to say, he must know how to discover the deep aspirations of the people, their needs, their questions, in order to be able to help them with the message of the Gospel and Christian life. In the words of Paul VI, it is a matter of a "spiritual sensitivity to read God's message in events"; to be able to discover"what the Lord wishes to say in a given circumstance".

            And so, as John Paul II writes, the preacher - one could say, once again, the Christian educator and every Christian - must exercise evangelical discernment that seeks to recognize - in the light of the Holy Spirit - "a call that God makes heard in a given historical status ; in it and through it God calls the believer"(Pastores dabo vobis, 10).

            Contemplation is also a requisite for a true financial aid of spiritual direction and accompaniment, as evangelization demands: we need, Francis points out, "the close gaze to contemplate, be moved and pause before the other as often as necessary"(Evangelii Gaudium, n. 169), so as to be able to make present the close presence of the Lord with them and his gaze staff. To this end, we must always learn "to take off our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Ex 3:5). And he adds: "We must give to our journey the healing rhythm of projimity, with a respectful and compassionate gaze that at the same time heals, liberates and encourages us to mature in the Christian life" (Ibid.). And from there exercise prudence, the ability to understand, the art of waiting, docility to the Holy Spirit, and especially the art of listening: "Listening financial aid us to find the gesture and the opportune word that uninstalls us from the quiet condition of spectators. Only from this respectful and compassionate listening can one find the paths of genuine growth, awaken the desire for the Christian ideal, the yearning to respond fully to God's love and the longing to develop the best that God has sown in one's own life"(Evangelii Gaudium, n. 171).

            In this way we will also learn, especially as educators and formators, the pedagogy of knowing how to lead others step by step towards the virtues with immense patience, encouraging people without judging them (cf. Ibid.). "The very experience of allowing ourselves to be accompanied and healed, capable of expressing with total sincerity our life before those who accompany us, teaches us to be patient and compassionate with others and enables us to find ways to awaken their trust, their openness and their readiness to grow" (n. 172).

            The need for contemplation is also a condition for discovering Christ in the poor and needy: "True love is always contemplative, it allows us to serve others not out of need or vanity, but because they are beautiful, beyond their appearance" (n. 199). Only in this way can we make them feel at home when they are with us.

            4. Contemplation always gives rise to an evangelizing zeal. In short, contemplation always gives rise to a new evangelizing desire, an apostolic zeal. "Letting Him contemplate us", from the crucifix or the tabernacle, renews in us the desire to communicate to others "what we have seen and heard is what we proclaim" (1 Jn 1:3). Or also in the reading and contemplation of the Gospel and the mysteries of the Lord's life: "The best motivation for deciding to communicate the Gospel is to contemplate it with love, to pause in its pages and read it with the heart. If we approach it in this way, its beauty will amaze us and captivate us again and again. For this reason, it is urgent to recover a contemplative spirit that allows us to rediscover every day that we are the depositaries of a good that humanizes, that financial aid to lead a new life. There is nothing better to transmit to others" (n. 264).

            It is logical that all this should be reinforced by intercessory prayer, because our prayer must be filled with others: "Thus we discover that intercession does not distract us from true contemplation, because contemplation that leaves out others is a deception" (n. 281).

            5. Contemplation and evangelization of Mary. In final, prayer and examination of conscience well done and the search for the presence of God throughout the day always lead us to others, to their needs, beginning with those who live with me: how they are, what they need, what makes them happy or sad, how they rest, what I can do for them, even if they are distant or difficult to deal with, because "where there is no love, put love and you will get love" (St. John of the Cross).

            To learn this contemplative spirit that translates into evangelization, the Pope advises us to turn to Mary. She "is contemplative of the mystery of God in the world, in history and in the daily life of each and everyone. She is the praying and working woman in Nazareth, and she is also our Lady of readiness, the one who goes out from her village to help others 'without delay'(Lk 1:39). This dynamic of justice and tenderness, of contemplating and walking towards others, is what makes her an ecclesial model for evangelization" (n. 288). And in the final prayer Francis invokes her in the same vein:
 

            You, Virgin of listening and contemplation,
mother of love, bride of the eternal wedding feast,
intercede for the Church, of which you are the most pure icon,
so that she may never be closed in and never be stopped
in her passion to establish the Kingdom.