THESE are short, spontaneous prayers
that come out of our
heart in love with God. We need to cultivate the practice of making
these prayers so we can always be with God, keeping our faith, hope
and charity for him and for others alive and burning, whatever
situation we may find ourselves in.
We need to realize that our mind and heart need to be
pumped and revved up by their proper fuel. And in the end, it’s not
just things around nor some abstract theories and ideals that fill
them up. It’s God who gives himself completely to us through his gifts
of faith, hope and charity that he gives so abundantly.
While there are special moments when we can be
particularly close to God in some intimate prayer and mutual
immersion, as when we do our mental prayer, meditation, day of
recollection, days of closed retreat, etc., we have to realize that in
the ordinary flow of the day, we are constantly keeping that intimacy,
this time through these short, spontaneous ejaculatory prayers.
Otherwise, we will always be prone to ignore and forget
God, and from there start the deviation that can really end with a big
disaster, as when we develop anger and hostility toward God, or total
indifference to him.
Let’s remember what happened to Christ when he returned to
his hometown. His town-mates could not believe they had a neighbour
who could speak and do things Christ did. They found him too much for
them, and they finally fell to fault-finding. (cfr Mt 13,54-58)
This is a typical example of how familiarity breeds
contempt that, sad to say, is rampant even today when we are supposed
to be more educated and civilized. Christ himself, the very God who
became man, could not help but say, “No prophet is not without honor
except in his own country, and in his own house.”
We always have the tendency to take God for granted. This
is something we have to be most aware of and to be properly prepared
to tackle and resolve. That is why we need to make these ejaculatory
prayers all the time so that our immersion in the things of the world
would also immerse us more and more in God.
We have to make many acts of faith, hope and charity
during the day. We can repeat as often as we can prayers like, “I love
you, Lord,” “I believe in you, Lord, help my unbelief,” “I trust you
and hope in you who are my sure rock and refuge,” etc.
Or we can say, “Thank you, Lord, for this and for that,”
“Sorry, Lord, for this and for that,” “Help me, Lord, in this
endeavour, in this trial, in this need and difficulty,” etc.
During extraordinary times, when we are specially high or
low, let’s flow with these ejaculatory prayers to keep us close to God
and not lose our proper footing amid the strong impulses of our
emotions.
And during ordinary times, when things appear normal and
even humdrum, we should manage to keep intimacy with God. We have to
avoid feeling empty and just drifting along what our senses and
feelings would lead us. The spiritual life of faith, hope and charity
has to be vibrating.
We may have to make use of some human devices as reminders
and triggers for us to make these ejaculatory prayers. For sure, all
these will be all worthwhile. With these ejaculatory prayers, we can
maintain a spiritual and supernatural outlook toward life in general,
and even to draw God to do miracles with us.
These prayers do not hamper our ordinary work, nor would
they lead us to be up in the clouds. On the contrary, they will help
us to be more realistic and more attentive to what is truly essential
in any situation that can be swamped with many incidentals. They are
good guides in our often-tumultuous journey in life.
More than these, these ejaculatory prayers help us to keep
distance from temptations and dangers. And if we find ourselves in
those situations, these prayers help us to be resistant, because they
will always keep in touch with God who is our strength and salvation.
Obviously, we have to learn how to be natural and discreet
in doing this. Christ said that when we pray, we should not show off
that we are praying or fasting, to grab the attention of others. We
have to appear natural and even cheerful.
We have to make ejaculatory prayers an integral part of
our life. Right at the beginning of the day, we should already start
making ejaculatory prayers.
heart in love with God. We need to cultivate the practice of making
these prayers so we can always be with God, keeping our faith, hope
and charity for him and for others alive and burning, whatever
situation we may find ourselves in.
We need to realize that our mind and heart need to be
pumped and revved up by their proper fuel. And in the end, it’s not
just things around nor some abstract theories and ideals that fill
them up. It’s God who gives himself completely to us through his gifts
of faith, hope and charity that he gives so abundantly.
While there are special moments when we can be
particularly close to God in some intimate prayer and mutual
immersion, as when we do our mental prayer, meditation, day of
recollection, days of closed retreat, etc., we have to realize that in
the ordinary flow of the day, we are constantly keeping that intimacy,
this time through these short, spontaneous ejaculatory prayers.
Otherwise, we will always be prone to ignore and forget
God, and from there start the deviation that can really end with a big
disaster, as when we develop anger and hostility toward God, or total
indifference to him.
Let’s remember what happened to Christ when he returned to
his hometown. His town-mates could not believe they had a neighbour
who could speak and do things Christ did. They found him too much for
them, and they finally fell to fault-finding. (cfr Mt 13,54-58)
This is a typical example of how familiarity breeds
contempt that, sad to say, is rampant even today when we are supposed
to be more educated and civilized. Christ himself, the very God who
became man, could not help but say, “No prophet is not without honor
except in his own country, and in his own house.”
We always have the tendency to take God for granted. This
is something we have to be most aware of and to be properly prepared
to tackle and resolve. That is why we need to make these ejaculatory
prayers all the time so that our immersion in the things of the world
would also immerse us more and more in God.
We have to make many acts of faith, hope and charity
during the day. We can repeat as often as we can prayers like, “I love
you, Lord,” “I believe in you, Lord, help my unbelief,” “I trust you
and hope in you who are my sure rock and refuge,” etc.
Or we can say, “Thank you, Lord, for this and for that,”
“Sorry, Lord, for this and for that,” “Help me, Lord, in this
endeavour, in this trial, in this need and difficulty,” etc.
During extraordinary times, when we are specially high or
low, let’s flow with these ejaculatory prayers to keep us close to God
and not lose our proper footing amid the strong impulses of our
emotions.
And during ordinary times, when things appear normal and
even humdrum, we should manage to keep intimacy with God. We have to
avoid feeling empty and just drifting along what our senses and
feelings would lead us. The spiritual life of faith, hope and charity
has to be vibrating.
We may have to make use of some human devices as reminders
and triggers for us to make these ejaculatory prayers. For sure, all
these will be all worthwhile. With these ejaculatory prayers, we can
maintain a spiritual and supernatural outlook toward life in general,
and even to draw God to do miracles with us.
These prayers do not hamper our ordinary work, nor would
they lead us to be up in the clouds. On the contrary, they will help
us to be more realistic and more attentive to what is truly essential
in any situation that can be swamped with many incidentals. They are
good guides in our often-tumultuous journey in life.
More than these, these ejaculatory prayers help us to keep
distance from temptations and dangers. And if we find ourselves in
those situations, these prayers help us to be resistant, because they
will always keep in touch with God who is our strength and salvation.
Obviously, we have to learn how to be natural and discreet
in doing this. Christ said that when we pray, we should not show off
that we are praying or fasting, to grab the attention of others. We
have to appear natural and even cheerful.
We have to make ejaculatory prayers an integral part of
our life. Right at the beginning of the day, we should already start
making ejaculatory prayers.
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