PRAYING IN MONASTIC TIME

 

 

(a winter, no, well an advent, or fall snowfall)

 

 

PRAYING IN MONASTIC TIME

 

3rd Sunday in Advent:  "Be patient, therefore, until the coming of the Lord"   (James 5:7)

 

(This reflection by Amy Welborn appears in the Third Sunday of Advent and suggests something important by way of our tendencies in prayer to set a pretty rapid pace when we pray.   Maybe we have something to learn from 'monastic time' in prayer.   This appeared in the LIVING WITH CHRIST  missalette for December,  p.  105.)

 

I once gave a talk in a parish on what I call "monastic time."  That is,  prayer in a monastery is much different than in a normal parish, and not just because it happens around the clock.

 

Prayer in a monastery is .... relaxed.   It is deliberate.   There is absolutely no rush.   There are pauses between the lines of prayers and between responses. 

 

At the end of my talk, the pastor suggested that the group pray the Lord's Prayer on "monastic time";  slowly,  pausing between the stanzas.

 

It was hard.   The pull to just jump into the next line without even a breath was fierce and difficult to resist.   But gradually, we fell into the rhythm and learned patience.

 

The pull to see what comes next is strong -- both in prayer and in life.   But the Lord tells us:  patience.   Let go.   In the pauses,  in the silence,  in the waiting,  God is working.

 

Lord,  teach me patience as I wait for you;   teach me patience in my prayer.