THAT may sound like a contradiction. But in our present human
condition, there’s no other way for us to be able to pray. We need to
fight. We need to struggle. We have to exert great and abiding effort
to convert everything we do into prayer.
We have already been warned in the Bible that our life here on earth
is a warfare. We are ranged against powerful enemies not so much in
terms of physical strength as in terms of subtlety, trickery and
deception.
The forces of good and evil are always in conflict not so much in some
places outside or war arenas somewhere, as in our very own heart. The
combat is more internal than external, more spiritual and moral than
material and physical.
Besides, the battle of contention starts in some little matters, not
in big issues, that are not promptly attended and are made to fester
for a while until they become a crisis or a conflagration.
Just take a peep at your heart. Even in your most stable periods of
goodness and well-being, you know well how the demons and temptations
are just around the corner, ever ready to pounce at the slightest
opening.
We need to understand that our moments of peace are always a result of
some battle we have waged against our enemies—the wayward world, the
devil and our very own flesh. That’s what St. Josemaria Escriva, Opus
Dei founder, once said. And that battle is a battle of love, and not
mere conflicts driven by hate and fear, etc.
We need to be always on guard, and the best way to do that is to pray,
to be in constant conversation with God, our Father, whose wisdom and
omnipotence he is willing to share with us. his children, created in
his image and likeness.
It is through prayer that we can see and receive the power of God. It
is where we can train ourselves in the skills of spiritual combat—how
to deal with our weaknesses, temptations and our sins and defeats.
It’s where we can nurse our wounds.
We have to learn to pray and to convert everything into prayer. “Pray
without ceasing,” St. Paul says (1 Th 5,17). “Watch and pray,” Christ
told the sleepy Peter, “that you may not enter into temptation. The
spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26, 41).
We have to fight against our tendency to be swallowed up by our work
and the dynamics of our earthly concerns. In fact, we should turn them
into prayer. That’s how we would refer them to God and not treat them
merely as human or worldly affairs.
Christ already warned us, “What does it profit a man if he gains the
whole world, and suffers the loss of his own soul?” We need to be
strongly convinced and frequently reminded that it is no fair deal at
all to gain the world only to lose the soul.
So, we have to learn to discipline our human impulses that in their
raw state need to be educated, purified and formed according to the
Christian ideals where charity and love for God and others would be
the primary directing principles.
We are easily carried away by the forcefulness and the captivating
charms of our worldly concerns. We have to learn how to disengage
ourselves from their grip. And this is not so much a matter of turning
away from them as in bringing them to our prayer to consider them
before God. That’s where they would be properly tackled.
For this, we need to learn how to pause from time to time to be able
to regain our bearings, so to speak, since most likely we would lose
our proper footing in the heat of passion and in the whirl of our work
and business.
We need time to make piety, that filial relationship with God marked
by affection and attachment, take firm root in our life and in our
system. As persons, with intelligence, will and heart, we need to see
to it that the first and abiding object of these faculties of ours
should be God, and not anything else.
Rather, everything else should be related to God. Even our faults, our
temptations and sins should be related to God, since that’s the proper
way to handle them. Without God, when we don’t bring them to our
prayer, they would just fester and get worse.
Let’s fight to pray. Let’s schedule it clearly, and learn how to be
flexible and persevering in prayer.
condition, there’s no other way for us to be able to pray. We need to
fight. We need to struggle. We have to exert great and abiding effort
to convert everything we do into prayer.
We have already been warned in the Bible that our life here on earth
is a warfare. We are ranged against powerful enemies not so much in
terms of physical strength as in terms of subtlety, trickery and
deception.
The forces of good and evil are always in conflict not so much in some
places outside or war arenas somewhere, as in our very own heart. The
combat is more internal than external, more spiritual and moral than
material and physical.
Besides, the battle of contention starts in some little matters, not
in big issues, that are not promptly attended and are made to fester
for a while until they become a crisis or a conflagration.
Just take a peep at your heart. Even in your most stable periods of
goodness and well-being, you know well how the demons and temptations
are just around the corner, ever ready to pounce at the slightest
opening.
We need to understand that our moments of peace are always a result of
some battle we have waged against our enemies—the wayward world, the
devil and our very own flesh. That’s what St. Josemaria Escriva, Opus
Dei founder, once said. And that battle is a battle of love, and not
mere conflicts driven by hate and fear, etc.
We need to be always on guard, and the best way to do that is to pray,
to be in constant conversation with God, our Father, whose wisdom and
omnipotence he is willing to share with us. his children, created in
his image and likeness.
It is through prayer that we can see and receive the power of God. It
is where we can train ourselves in the skills of spiritual combat—how
to deal with our weaknesses, temptations and our sins and defeats.
It’s where we can nurse our wounds.
We have to learn to pray and to convert everything into prayer. “Pray
without ceasing,” St. Paul says (1 Th 5,17). “Watch and pray,” Christ
told the sleepy Peter, “that you may not enter into temptation. The
spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26, 41).
We have to fight against our tendency to be swallowed up by our work
and the dynamics of our earthly concerns. In fact, we should turn them
into prayer. That’s how we would refer them to God and not treat them
merely as human or worldly affairs.
Christ already warned us, “What does it profit a man if he gains the
whole world, and suffers the loss of his own soul?” We need to be
strongly convinced and frequently reminded that it is no fair deal at
all to gain the world only to lose the soul.
So, we have to learn to discipline our human impulses that in their
raw state need to be educated, purified and formed according to the
Christian ideals where charity and love for God and others would be
the primary directing principles.
We are easily carried away by the forcefulness and the captivating
charms of our worldly concerns. We have to learn how to disengage
ourselves from their grip. And this is not so much a matter of turning
away from them as in bringing them to our prayer to consider them
before God. That’s where they would be properly tackled.
For this, we need to learn how to pause from time to time to be able
to regain our bearings, so to speak, since most likely we would lose
our proper footing in the heat of passion and in the whirl of our work
and business.
We need time to make piety, that filial relationship with God marked
by affection and attachment, take firm root in our life and in our
system. As persons, with intelligence, will and heart, we need to see
to it that the first and abiding object of these faculties of ours
should be God, and not anything else.
Rather, everything else should be related to God. Even our faults, our
temptations and sins should be related to God, since that’s the proper
way to handle them. Without God, when we don’t bring them to our
prayer, they would just fester and get worse.
Let’s fight to pray. Let’s schedule it clearly, and learn how to be
flexible and persevering in prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment