PRAYER OPENS THE HEART TO GOD
"Year ago, the late Bernard Haring, who was described by Charles Curran in his July 17, 1998, eulogy as 'a moral theologian whose soul matched his scholarship,' addressed this very process. Haring insisted that it is only thourgh the believer's prayerful responsiveness to grace that the process of integrating faith and life can continue. Prayer opens the heart to God; it is an eschatological activity, says Haring, in that it is directed toward the kingdom. In prayer, we beseech the God of the future with the request that all the marks of God's reign (liberation, forgiveness, providence, and salvation) break into our present need and inspire all our efforts. As we pray, we become God's hands and eyes and feet and ears for others. Through prayer, we move history toward that day when all will know the blessings of God's reign. Therefore, we are to cry out, 'Lord, Lord' while at the same time serving and praying in a manner that never contradicts the One who is at home within us."
(This quote is by Patricia Sanchez in the Celebration Preaching Resource for the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time -- Cycle A.)
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