JESUS AND PRAYER

 

 

(San Damiano crucifix in the chapel)

 

 

JESUS  and  PRAYER   -- "ABBA, FATHER"  (Mark 14:36)

 

You might think that, being God, Jesus would have been pretty self-sufficient.  There wasn't much he couldn't do, after all.  He walked on water,  cured lepers,  calmed storms,  and even raised the dead.  So why pray?  What need could Jesus possibly have had to talk to God?

 

Jesus revealed a God who was a trinity of persons, a community rather than an isolated individual.  As a man, Jesus lived this communion with his Father especially through prayer.  When he went off to the mountain or the desert, he wasn't "lost in his own thoughts" but immersed in conversation with his Father.  He loved his Father, and he loved to spend time with him.  For Jesus, prayer wasn't a chore he had to get out of the way but a delight, an activity he looked forward to.   He made time for prayer because for him it was a priority.

 

In short, Jesus didn't pray just because he "had" to.  He didn't turn to God just as a problem-solver or a bodyguard.  He turned to him as a Father.   It would be a shame if the only time we dealt with our father was when we needed to borrow the car keys or take out a short-term loan!  This wasn't Jesus' attitude.  He bounced ideas off God, shared his inner-most thoughts and aspirations with him, and sometimes just enjoyed his company without saying anything at all.  The heart of Jesus was indeed a prayerful heart.

 

 

(This reflection appears in the book,  THE SACRED HEART FOR LENT,  by Fr. Thomas D. Williams, published by Servant Books of St. Anthony Messenger Press,  copyright 2011.)

PRAYER REFLECTION FROM YOUR PRAYER FRATERNITY

 

 

This reflection on prayer comes from Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, in her book, A TREE FULL OF ANGELS, p. 39;  it was published by Harper and Row, in 1988.

 

"There is no better way to end this chapter than by reflecting with you on that golden response to God called prayer.

 

To pray is to touch God and let God touch us.  It is a matter of presence and response.  Prayer does nothing to make God more present, for God is always present.  Prayer is our response to the presence of God in our lives.  A friend comes to see us.  What do we do?  We reach out to touch and receive that friend.  We allow this friend, in some way, to touch us.  Friendship is a marvelous exchange, and that is exactly what prayer is.

 

So how do I pray?  

 

I listen.   I talk.  I weep.  I am silent.   I embrace the beloved.   I gaze with reverence.    I wonder and adore.   I share my needs.    I have tea with God.    I give gifts.    I receive gifts.    I give thanks and I say I'm sorry.   I scream.   I get angry.   I show God all my life, including my very divided heart.   I relax.   I'm at home.  Sometimes I read a poem or tell God a story.  Sometimes I dance.   God loves stories and poems and dances.  Sometimes I get a bit dramatic with God .... God recognizes the cry of my heart as prayer ...  Prayer is a marvelous exchange."

 

MOUNTAIN PLACES & PRAYER

 

 

(a mountain scape in the West)

 

 

PRAYER as THE MOUNT OF ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

 

( Before you share this reflection for yourself, or with others, you might read one or several of these scripture stories of mountain experiences: Gen 22: 1-18 (Abraham);   Exodus 3: 1-16 or 19: 1-25 (Moses);   1 Kgs 19: 7-13 (Elijah)   or in the life of Jesus: Mt 4: 8-11 (the temptations);   Mt 5:1-12 (beatitudes);   Mt. 14: 23 (prayer);   Mt. 17:1-18 (transfiguration);   Mt. 26: 30-46 (garden of olives);        Mt. 27: 32-54 (the crucifixion);    and    Mt. 28: 16-20 (the Ascension). )

　

 

Have you noticed that mountains are the places for significant moments of encounter with God in Sacred Scripture -- 'prayer moments' we can say?

 

Abraham has his Mt. Moriah;  Moses had his Mt. Sinai;  and  Elijah has his Mt. Horeb.    For Jesus, it was the mountain of temptation,  the Mount of the Beatitudes,  Mt. Tabor,  the Mount of Olives,  Mt. Calvary, and  lastly, the Mount of the Ascension.    And then, perhaps most importantly and most regularly, Jesus had his mountain places where he went often to prayer; how many times does Scripture tell us: "Jesus went up the mountain to pray." 

 

Listen to the prayer of the psalmist (Ps 43:3): "Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place."   Think of your prayer places as your "holy mountain place" where you met God in very intimate ways, like Jesus did, and Moses and Abraham and Elijah and so many others did.    Prayer constantly draws us to that mountain place where we experience transformation,  come to deeper understandings of God,  face the struggles and decisions of life, and  ultimately,  experience our own crucifixions and deaths.

 

The great prophet, Isaiah (25: 6-9), tells us: 'On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples.   On this mountain, he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples .. Wipe away the tears from all faces … remove the reproach of his people from the whole earth."     Is this a promise from God of what he offers us in prayer in our sacred personal mountain places?

 

 

　

POPE JOHN PAUL II and PRAYER

 

a reflection on Pope John Paul II's prayer

 

( in his book, Rediscover Catholicism,  Matthew Kelly talks about our late Pope's strength in prayer -- pages 115-116.)

 

 

Let me ask you, did you ever see John Paul II pray?   Each morning, he celebrated Mass in his private chapel with about twenty guests.  Perhaps you were fortunate enough to attend.  If not, perhaps you saw television footage of these Masses.

 

When this man knelt down to pray after communion,  he would close his eyes and go to a place deep within himself.  Once he was there, nothing and no one could distract him.   He would go to that place deep within himself, and from that place he brought forth the fruit of his life:  wisdom, compassion, generosity, understanding, patience, courage, insight, forgiveness, humility, and a love so apparent you could almost touch it.

 

The amazing thing is, if you put this same man in a football stadium with a hundred thousand people and a million more distractions, he still knelt down after Communion, closed his eyes, and went to that place deep within him where he connected with God.  He allowed nothing to distract him from his prayer.  It was from that place that he lived his life.

 

Find that place within you.  If you do nothing else in your life, find that place and start to live your life from there.  I pray I can visit that place within me and go there more and more frequently.

 

Whatever name you give him, he was first and foremost a man of prayer.