The liturgy is the public worship given to God by the Church. Father John Hardon said, “Liturgy is the highest form of worship, because it glorifies God publicly as the origin and destiny, not only of man individually but of mankind as a society, and the worship is given officially, by the Church and under her divinely established authority.”
The main forms of public worship are Holy Mass, the Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office), and the sacramentals.
Public worship is necessary because God wants us to honour him as social beings. Pope Francis said, “The prayer of Christians passes through tangible mediations: Sacred Scripture, the Sacraments, liturgical rites, the community. In Christian life, the corporeal and material sphere cannot be disregarded, because in Jesus Christ it became the way of salvation. We could say that we should pray with the body too: the body enters into prayer.”
The Holy Father added: “Life is called to become worship to God, but this cannot happen without prayer, especially liturgical prayer.” Liturgy prayer is indeed an encounter with Christ!
Just as a healthy diet includes different types of food, so a healthy prayer life embraces different forms of prayers. A healthy prayer life of a Catholic includes liturgical prayer (Holy Mass and Liturgy of the Hours), meditative prayer (e.g. mental prayer, Lectio Divina, and rosary), and devotional prayer (e.g. the Angelus, litany, prayers to the Sacred Heart, angels and patron saints).
We should sanctify our day with prayer, which is a continuous dialogue with the Lord. Pope Francis said, “One who prays is like someone in love who always carries the beloved person in his or her heart wherever they go. Essentially, everything becomes a part of this dialogue with God: every joy becomes a reason for praise, every trial is an opportunity to ask for help. Prayer is always alive in our lives, like embers, even when the mouth does not speak, but the heart speaks.”
The Catechism states: “We learn to pray at certain moments by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in the events of each day, to make prayer spring up from us. Jesus’ teaching about praying to our Father is in the same vein as his teaching about providence: time is in the Father’s hands; it is in the present that we encounter him, not yesterday nor tomorrow, but today: ‘O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts.’” (CCC 2659)
Pope Francis comments: “There is no day more wonderful day than the one we are living. Those who live always thinking about the future: ‘But the future will be better...’, but do not take each day as it comes are people who live in their fantasy, they do not know how to deal with concrete reality. And today is real, today is concrete. And prayer takes place today. Jesus comes to meet us today, the day we are living. And it is prayer that transforms this day into grace, or better, that transforms us: it quells anger, sustains love, multiplies joy, instils the strength to forgive.”
The Holy Father encourages us to pray for everything and for everyone.
He said, “The prayer of a Christian makes Christ’s compassion present .... The Lord is – let us not forget – the Lord of compassion, of nearness, of tenderness: three words never to be forgotten. Because this is the Lord’s style: compassion, nearness, tenderness. Prayer helps us love others, despite their mistakes and their sins. The person is always more important than his or her actions, and Jesus did not judge the world, but saved it.... We are fragile beings, but we know how to pray: this is our greatest dignity and it is also our strength. Have courage. Pray in every moment, in every situation because the Lord is near us. And when a prayer is said according to Jesus’ heart, it obtains miracles.”
祈禱幫助我們去愛人
禮儀是教會獻給天主的信眾朝拜。John Hardon神父說：「禮儀是至高形式的朝拜，因為在禮儀中公開讚頌上主作為元始和終結，不僅是個別的，也是人類社會全體的，且這種朝拜是由教會神聖建立的權威之下正式頒令。」信眾朝拜的主要形式包括彌撒聖祭、聖事、守聖時（日課）、以及聖儀。
信眾朝拜是必要的，因為天主希望我們生存在這社會中的人去尊崇祂。教宗方濟各說：「基督徒的祈禱透過具體的媒介進行：聖經、聖事、禮儀、團體。在基督徒生活中，肉身和物質領域不能被忽視，因為在耶穌基督內成了救贖之路。也可以說，我們也應該用肉身祈禱：肉身融入了祈禱之中。」教宗進一步補充道：「生活被召叫去朝拜天主，朝拜天主不能沒有祈禱，尤其是禮儀中的祈禱。』禮儀祈禱確實是與基督的相遇！
正如健康的飲食包括不同類型的食物一樣，健康的祈禱生活涵蓋了不同形式的祈禱。天主教徒的健康祈禱生活包括禮儀祈禱（彌撒和日課）、默想祈禱（例如心禱、聖言誦讀、玫瑰經）和熱心神工祈禱（例如三鐘經、德敘禱文、耶穌聖心、天使和主保聖人的禱文）。
我們應該以祈禱聖化我們的一天，這是與主之間持續的對話。教宗方濟各說：「祈禱者就像一個戀愛中的人，無論走到哪裡，心中總是帶著心愛的人。基本上，一切都成為與天主的對話：每一份喜樂都成為讚美的理由，每一次試煉都是求助的機會。祈禱總是與我們一起生活，就像四季特別祈禱日，即使口中不說，心卻在祈禱。」
天主教教理說：「聆聽上主的聖言，參與祂的逾越奧跡， 都是我們學習祈禱的時刻。但每時每刻，在每天的事件中，上主都賜給我們祂的聖神，使我 們的心中湧出祈禱。關於向天父祈禱和祂的眷顧，耶穌的教導可說是異曲同工： 時間操在 天父手中；是在『現在』這時刻，我們與天主 相遇，不是昨天也不是明天，而是今天：『今天你們該聽從祂的聲音，不要再心硬』。」（天主教教理#2659）
教宗方濟各評論道：「沒有一天比我們正在渡過的這一天更美好。那些總是想著未來的人：『未來會更好…』，但卻不接受眼前每一天的人，這些人是活在幻想中的，他們不知道如何面對現實。而今天是真實的，今天是實在的。而祈禱就是在今天。耶穌今天來與我們相會，就是我們正在渡過的這一天。祈禱將這一天變成恩寵，或者更好的是祈禱使我們變得充滿恩寵：它平息憤怒、延續愛、倍增喜樂，為我們灌注寬恕的力量。」
教宗鼓勵我們為一切事物和所有人祈禱。他說：「基督徒的祈禱使基督的憐憫得以實現⋯ 主是— 讓我們不要忘記 — 憐憫之主、親近之主、溫柔之主：三個永遠不可忘記的詞彙。因為這是主的風格：憐憫、親近、溫柔。祈禱幫助我們去愛人，儘管他們犯了錯、犯了罪。人比他的行為更重要，耶穌沒有審判世界，而是拯救 ⋯ 我們是脆弱的生命，但我們知道如何祈禱：這是我們最偉大的尊嚴，也是我們的力量。要勇敢。在每個時刻，每種情況下都要祈禱，因為主在我們身邊。當祈禱是按耶穌的心說出時，就會出現奇蹟。」