Blog # 172 Alone. Alone?

Blog # 172 Alone. Alone? The picture of Jesus that goes along with this blog appeared on the cover of one of the weekly bulletins of a Church in Chicago. As soon as I saw it it made me think and wonder about the prayer of Jesus. Several familiar texts in all four of the Gospels immediately came to mind. A constantly recurring characteristic given by the Evangelists in reference to Jesus praying is that He regularly designated a time and place where He would be alone for His prayer. This would be especially in times of major conflicts and before making important consequential decisions such as choosing the Apostles. Jesus is given as going off to the mountain or a deserted place, again to be separated, for a time, I would imagine, from the distractions and the frustration of dealing with the closedmindedness and hypocracy of some of those who opposed Him, and to address the personal pain He must have experienced in witnessing the immense need for the message He had come to share on the part of sinners, the poor and the suffering , coupled with His realization of how few there were among those who heard Him speak who seemed to understand and give themselves to loving all these people as He loved them. Here are a few samples of texts from the Gospels that came to mind for me in response to the picture of Jesus above. Matthew 14: 22-24. This text occurs after Jesus had heard of the death of John the Baptist and had miraculously fed a huge crowd of people. "Immediately afterward, while dismissing the crowds, Jesus insisted that his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side. When he had sent them away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray, remainng there alone as evening drew on." Mark 14: 32 - 36. This text is placed in the garden of Gethsemani after the celebration of the Passover Supper on the night before Jesus died. "Sit down here while I pray", he said to his disciples...Then he began to be filled with fear and distress....He said to them. "My heart if filled with sorrow to the point of death."...He advanced a little and fell to the ground, praying that if it were possible this hour might pass him by. He kept saying, "Abba (O Father),...Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you would have it, not as I." Luke 6: 12 - 13. This text is placed after a miracle in which Jesus heals a man with a withered hand. "Then he went out to the mountain to pray, spending the night in communion with God. At daybreak he called his disciples and selected twelve of them he called his apostles." These and similar texts focus primarily on Jesus and his experience of prayer as a personal union with God the Father. Texts from John that came to me in response to these texts and then the picture of Jesus on the mountain add a different dimension to the picture. Several major texts from John clearly claim and emphasize our union with Jesus through faith and Baptism. In Blog # 173 we will consider some of the meaning and implications several texts from John have in relation to our experience of prayer and consequently of our experience of life here in the USA, already past the midway mark of 2011.

Blog # 82 PRAY ALWAYS

Blog # 82 PRAY ALWAYS "... never cease praying..., ; such is God' s will for you in Christ Jesus." Those words come from St. Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5 verse 17. The words "never cease praying" could just as well have been given as "pray always". What could Paul have intended to say when he told the Thessalonians to pray always? Every day? No, that is not always. Almost always? No. The only thing always means if you take it literally is always. Taken in this sense it would seem that Paul is suggesting something that would clearly be impossible even to hope for let alone accomplish. In this sense I cannot imagine a monk or a cloistered nun praying always. What could it mean for a neurosurgeon in the midst of a delicate brain operation that requires every bit of concentration he can muster on the surgery in which he is engaged? It would be an immoral act for a person to be driving along a crowded highway at sixty-five miles an hour with one hand on the wheel and the other holding an open prayer book. Without changing the literal meaning of the word always, the solution comes in the meaning we have for the words to pray. The classic definition of prayer is a lifting up of our mind and heart to God to praise Him, to thank Him, to express repentance for our sins, and to ask His blessing on our life. For many people this lifting up of our minds and hearts is primarily if not exclusively expressed in words. Even to think in terms of words takes time and it would indeed be impossible to pray always if prayer were available only in terms of words or thoughts. An alternative concept of prayer could be formulated by understanding it as living in the Presence of God. Since God is our Creator always and everywhere, this notion of prayer can be realized at all times and wherever we may be. So, however, only if we will it. Logically therefore the best time to guarantee that we will be personally by choice living in the Presence of God all day long is to begin the day by choosing to do so. In the practical order this will mean before the first cup of coffee or the first of any other act but the act of making this choice. Years ago in order to put all of this into practice I formed the habit of imitating Jesus in the way I learned from the letter to the Hebrews ( 10: 5,7) which says: "...on coming into the world Jesus said: "...I have come to do your will O God." By habit now but with new meaning that prayer is the first thought of every day. Then throughout the day reminders come to keep me aware of what I have chosen when coming back to life after the 'death' of sleep. "...Thy will be done..." in the Lord's prayer." When I sit down at the computer to try to figure out what to say in the next blog...Lord, what's next?" When I gather up and recycle scraps of paper left by people on the parking lot of the church and other such simple yet prayerful experiences if done by the will of God by His Presence in me. Then by the end of the day the 17th verse of chapter 10 of the letter to the Thessalonians comes into focus: "Rejoice always, never cease praying, render constant thanks; such is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." "Thank You, Lord" is a fitting prayer to end the day rejoicing in God's will.

Blog #43 PRAYER

Blog # 43 PRAYER I remember talking to the father of a small boy playing in a little league. The father was saying that if a boy is going to be a good ball player, somewhere along the line it is necessary for him to learn to be aggressive. Somehow he said, you just do not have the need or the heart to win unless you get the spirit of aggression, the competitive spirit, the difference between someone who is merely "on the team" and someone who "plays the game ". I think it is something like this with the experience of faith and church too. There is some hard-to-describe reality certain people attain that makes the difference between belonging to a church and living as a believer. There are ways we can tell a boy or a girl has reached the point of really playing ball rather than just belonging to a ball team by his or her attendance and enthusiasm for practice, interest in big league ball, and his or her batting average on the field. It would seem there are also similar ways we can tell a person has attained a mature and living faith over against a bloodless uninteresting weak habit of merely belonging to a church. It seems that one of the first indicators a person has attained a sincere maturity of faith is the person's experience of prayer. Certain questions are important, such as do we pray, that is do we really talk to God, convinced of His presence to us, and knowing by faith He is our friend and cares for us personally? When do we pray? Alone or with others? Does our prayer consist only or for the most part of requests from God for things we want and need for ourselves, or do we praise and adore God in our prayer, thank God for all God is and does, tell God of our delight and joy in discovering His wisdom and goodness in creation around us, tell God of our love for Him and of the difficulties we experience in fulfilling that love and helping it to grow? The quality of a person's prayer is certainly an indicator of that person's relationship with God. The questions I have referred to are just a few of the questions we might ask ourselves with regard to our prayer experience to find out how well or little our prayer life has developed and what we might do to improve it. In what league are we praying, a little league or the majors?

Blog # 39 PRAY

Blog # 39 PRAY (Lk 11: 1). His disciples asked Jesus : "Lord, teach us to pray". (Mat 26: 36). " Stay here while I go over there and pray". (Acts 10: 9). " Peter went up to the roof terrace to pray". To pray. What does this mean? We could look in a dictionary and discover the few words that officially define for us the experience of prayer, but the question what does it mean to pray can be asked on a different level than a mere definition in words. What does it mean , personally, to pray? Is there some way I can remind myself to pray when I tend to forget? How often can or should I pray? If we look to the Bible for references to prayer we find many. Throughout both the Old and New Testaments many explicit references are made to prayer. Kings judges patriarchs and common people are all given to prayer. Paul certainly was a man of prayer. Jesus invited His disciples to come away from their ordinary work routine to spend time in prayer. The Gospels tell us Jesus frequently prayed, especially when making important decisions such as calling the Apostles or when He needed special strength as on the night before He died when He knelt in the garden to prepare Himself to suffer. We are told Jesus spent whole nights in prayer. Holy men and women throughout the history of the Church have always been outstanding models for those who wish to pray. There is frequently a common pattern. Those who have accomplished most in the world for God and for people seem to be those who were most interested in and devoted to prayer. Through their prayers they were joined to Heaven but also accomplished great things for people on earth. Mother Terese of Calcutta is a prime example of such holy people. What would you say right now if someone were to ask you what does it mean to pray? What image, what words would come to your mind if someone asked you what it means to pray? For some people it would seem the experience of prayer is predominantly the experience of asking God for something. For others it is more. A definition of prayer we learned as children went like this: To pray is to raise our minds and hearts to God, to adore Him, to thank Him, to express our sorrow for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need and His blessing upon our lives. That makes a good prayer. Then years ago I asked an old priest how he would define prayer. He said prayer is a personal willful response to the presence of God Who is love. Since God is love, and God is always and everywhere present, that definition is open to receive within itself actions as well as thoughts and words. As we can express our response to a friend's birthday with a cake, a hug, a poem or a song, a written note or in spoken words, so we can express our response to God present to us in more than one way. And since God is present always and everywhere there is no time or place where prayer in one form or another cannot be ours. Thoughts such as these throw light on the meaning of 1 Thessalonians 5: 17, 18: ...never cease praying,...such is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. The classic prayer referred to as "The Morning Offering" says it this way: O Jesus through the immaculate heart of the Virgin Mary, I offer thee my prayers works joys and sufferings of this day, for all the intentions of Thy sacred heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins and for the geneal intentions of the Holy Father. Amen! Yes, Lord, always and everywhere, Thy will be done!