THE gospels of these days, termed liturgically as the
27th week in
ordinary time, focus on the theme of prayer. They talk about the need
and requirements, importance and purpose, the nature, ways and effects
of prayer.
The story of the good Samaritan (Lk 11,25-37) tells us we need to care
for our neighbor, that is everyone, for that means we truly believe
and love God, the reasons why we have to pray. That of Martha and Mary
(10,38-42) highlights the priority of prayer over all our other human
concerns.
That of a disciple asking our Christ to teach them to pray and our
Lord telling them the “Our Father” (11,1-4) illustrates what we have
to say and ask, what attitudes and dispositions we ought to have when
we pray.
That we need to “ask and it will be given to you, search and you will
find, knock and the door will be opened,“ in short, that we have to
insist when we pray (11,5-13), means that effort, sacrifice and
suffering are involved in prayer. We are usually restrained by our
weaknesses and the temptations around.
That discourse on the very astute ways of the devil after our Lord had
just cast out one from a possessed person (11,15-26) shows us the
powerful effect of prayer to cope with the most clever tactics of the
evil one.
That gleeful praise of the woman for the mother of our Lord, prompting
Christ to clarify that “happier still are those who hear the word of
God and keep it” (11,27-28), shows us how prayer is actually hearing
and keeping the word of God. It’s not just mumbling some words.
We need to pray, and at these times, we need to pray more than ever.
Prayer, of course, is our sublime act of worship, of thanksgiving, of
asking for pardon and favors. It is what keeps us spiritually alive,
vitally connected with our Lord, and in a very mysterious way what
keeps us properly linked to everyone else.
What eating, drinking and breathing do to our physical organism, is
what prayer does to our spiritual soul. It animates us, since it
exercises our faith, hope and charity that are the lifeblood of our
soul. Without these theological virtues, we would just get lost in
life, left kaput spiritually and morally.
When we pray, we dispose ourselves to receive the wisdom and power of
God, so important as we cruise through our very confusing world and
contend with the frailties of our flesh, the wiles and temptations of
the devil, the sweet but deadening allurements of the world.
The challenges of the times simply urge us to pray even more. A quick
look around already gives us very sobering thoughts and compelling
appeals for prayer.
Just in one newspaper recently, I read that 350 million people
worldwide suffer from depression. That tells us a lot about the
current world situation. Then another item reported that a third of
adults in the US under 30 openly declare themselves atheists or
agnostics, the highest rate so far, and it seems, as the report says,
growing fast still.
In Rome these days where they are holding a synod of bishops for the
new evangelization, the initial reports about the spiritual and moral
situation of the different parts of the world paint a very bad, ugly
picture, posing a formidable challenge to tackle.
In the local scene, with the election fever descending on us like a
virus, we once again see the muddling of the air, with political
operators throwing intrigues at each other, generating all sorts of
spins including the most ridiculous ones, as if to show there is
little difference between them and the mad dogs.
In the face of all these, we really have no other alternative but to
pray even more. Prayer will keep us human, taking us away from the
drop to brute animality. More importantly, it will keep our faith,
hope and love burning in spite of all contradictions and darkening
horizon.
It helps us to be more prudent in our thoughts, words and deeds. It
will make us more understanding towards others, quick to forgive and
forget, and to reconcile rather than rut in anguish and hate.
We need to actively promote the culture of prayer, telling everyone
why we need it and how it can be done in the most varied and
accessible ways. Most of the prejudices and misconceptions about
prayer arise from the ignorance regarding prayer’s true nature and
role in our life. This has to be corrected.
ordinary time, focus on the theme of prayer. They talk about the need
and requirements, importance and purpose, the nature, ways and effects
of prayer.
The story of the good Samaritan (Lk 11,25-37) tells us we need to care
for our neighbor, that is everyone, for that means we truly believe
and love God, the reasons why we have to pray. That of Martha and Mary
(10,38-42) highlights the priority of prayer over all our other human
concerns.
That of a disciple asking our Christ to teach them to pray and our
Lord telling them the “Our Father” (11,1-4) illustrates what we have
to say and ask, what attitudes and dispositions we ought to have when
we pray.
That we need to “ask and it will be given to you, search and you will
find, knock and the door will be opened,“ in short, that we have to
insist when we pray (11,5-13), means that effort, sacrifice and
suffering are involved in prayer. We are usually restrained by our
weaknesses and the temptations around.
That discourse on the very astute ways of the devil after our Lord had
just cast out one from a possessed person (11,15-26) shows us the
powerful effect of prayer to cope with the most clever tactics of the
evil one.
That gleeful praise of the woman for the mother of our Lord, prompting
Christ to clarify that “happier still are those who hear the word of
God and keep it” (11,27-28), shows us how prayer is actually hearing
and keeping the word of God. It’s not just mumbling some words.
We need to pray, and at these times, we need to pray more than ever.
Prayer, of course, is our sublime act of worship, of thanksgiving, of
asking for pardon and favors. It is what keeps us spiritually alive,
vitally connected with our Lord, and in a very mysterious way what
keeps us properly linked to everyone else.
What eating, drinking and breathing do to our physical organism, is
what prayer does to our spiritual soul. It animates us, since it
exercises our faith, hope and charity that are the lifeblood of our
soul. Without these theological virtues, we would just get lost in
life, left kaput spiritually and morally.
When we pray, we dispose ourselves to receive the wisdom and power of
God, so important as we cruise through our very confusing world and
contend with the frailties of our flesh, the wiles and temptations of
the devil, the sweet but deadening allurements of the world.
The challenges of the times simply urge us to pray even more. A quick
look around already gives us very sobering thoughts and compelling
appeals for prayer.
Just in one newspaper recently, I read that 350 million people
worldwide suffer from depression. That tells us a lot about the
current world situation. Then another item reported that a third of
adults in the US under 30 openly declare themselves atheists or
agnostics, the highest rate so far, and it seems, as the report says,
growing fast still.
In Rome these days where they are holding a synod of bishops for the
new evangelization, the initial reports about the spiritual and moral
situation of the different parts of the world paint a very bad, ugly
picture, posing a formidable challenge to tackle.
In the local scene, with the election fever descending on us like a
virus, we once again see the muddling of the air, with political
operators throwing intrigues at each other, generating all sorts of
spins including the most ridiculous ones, as if to show there is
little difference between them and the mad dogs.
In the face of all these, we really have no other alternative but to
pray even more. Prayer will keep us human, taking us away from the
drop to brute animality. More importantly, it will keep our faith,
hope and love burning in spite of all contradictions and darkening
horizon.
It helps us to be more prudent in our thoughts, words and deeds. It
will make us more understanding towards others, quick to forgive and
forget, and to reconcile rather than rut in anguish and hate.
We need to actively promote the culture of prayer, telling everyone
why we need it and how it can be done in the most varied and
accessible ways. Most of the prejudices and misconceptions about
prayer arise from the ignorance regarding prayer’s true nature and
role in our life. This has to be corrected.
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