7 August 2011
St. Anthony, Des Moines
In the Gospel today we hear about how our Lord Jesus Christ, the exemplar and pioneer of our faith, showed us by his example the importance of prayer.
I know we often talk about prayer – or at least we used to. Prayer today seems to be disappearing from the public forum – at times violently being targeted, as if somehow our faith isn’t considered a constitutive part of who we are; or as if the first amendment of the Constitution, stating “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” could somehow be contorted as a ban on prayer and our public witness as faithful Catholics.
I fear that today, many of us have forgotten how important it is to pray. I think many of us think that the demand of our faith to pray is somehow a hinderance on our freedom and the precious moments of time we have as our lives have become unduly busy. We think, “Oh, I’m so busy with work, with my family, with taking the kids to all their sporting events, etc. etc. How can I find time to sit down and pray?”
I think the first thing we need to realize is what prayer is. When Jesus went up the mountain, he didn’t take with him a bible or a rosary or fifteen devotional booklets to read and do what was in them. Not that these things aren’t good and helpful, but prayer isn’t about getting a list of tasks done, like going through a shopping list making sure everything was filled out.
Prayer is a personal encounter with God; personal, because our God is a person – a communion of three persons, in fact. When we pray, it isn’t about moving beads across fingers, but about the time spent in conversation with one who loves us – with one whom we must love. Think about time spent with a close loved one – a spouse, a family member, a good friend. I think about friends of mine – close friends, especially those who live far away from me. We make an intentional effort to call each other on the phone and just talk – spending time together and just enjoying one another. This is true, authentic love.
This is what we are called to do with God. To intentionally set aside time for him – time to converse with him. Time to simply be with him. Time to love him. When we set aside time for friends, does this seem like a burden? And yet, why do we think this way when it comes to our friendship with God?
That’s right, we are called to a deep, loving friendship with God. Prayer isn’t about accomplishing a task, but, as St. Therese of Lisieux said, “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” Prayer doesn’t magically take away all sorrow and sadness in our lives, but gives us the opportunity to converse with God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, and who remains faithful even in the trials of life. Saint Teresa of Avila, who we call the Doctor of Prayer, once famously remarked to God, “If this is how you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few of them!” Only a friend – a good, true friend – could speak like that.
So, how do we pray? There are all sorts of ways: Eucharistic adoration, the rosary, scripture reading, devotionas, etc. Last week, I mentioned in my homily St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose memorial it was, and I alluded to his method of prayer. Today, as I conclude this homily, I’d like to take you through a very short prayer, highly encouraged by St. Ignatius to be done at the end of every day.
<Introduction to Examen prayer>
No comments:
Post a Comment