PRAYER is our SOLID GROUND

STANDING ON THE ROCK OF PRAYER


Prayer reminds us that we ourselves, including our work, are not the center of the universe.  To begin to believe otherwise is the fatal sin of vainglory,  "empty glory."   We put our faith and self-worth in titles or rank, claiming for ourselves privileges and exceptions.  It's a house built on sand.   And when retirement looms, or illness strikes,  or downsizing makes our job superfluous,  we realize we've been standing on ground that washes away beneath our feet.   Prayer brings us back to solid ground, to the rock of faith in one greater than ourselves, to the commitments that give life its truest meaning.  Prayer bends our attention away from ourselves back toward God, and then to those who have been entrusted to our love and practical care:   family, friends, community, and especially those who lack the blessings we have been given so abundantly.

Standing on the rock of faith we can do great things.   Marshalling every bit of talent God has given us,  drawing courage from places somewhere deep inside that we never knew existed,  we get out of bed,  say our prayers, and go to work.   It is indeed God's work,   opus Dei,    but it is also ours,  labor noster.     In this month when we celebrate Labor Day,  let us hold them together.

(This reflection was taken from a longer reflection entitled:  Prayer and Work,  by Fr. Columba Stewart, OSB, that appears in the September  2014 missalette:  GIVE US THIS DAY.)