United in prayer and sacrifice

WHEREVER we are, we should strive that we be united in our

prayer and sacrifice. This way, we can be more assured of drawing

God’s mercy and graces to us. Together we gather more strength to

attract God’s attention to us

            Remember what Christ himself said: “I tell you truly that

if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be

done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three gather

together in My name, there am I with them.” (Mt 18,20)

            That is why the apostles themselves prayed together before

making an important decision. This can be gleaned when they had to

choose a replacement for Judas who betrayed Christ. “All with one

accord devoted themselves to prayer,” says the Acts of the Apostles,

“together with the women and Mary he mother of Jesus, and with his

brothers.” (1,14)

            Another instance where they prayed together and received a

tremendous favour is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 4.

“After they had prayed,” it says, “their meeting place was shaken, and

they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God

boldly.” (31)

            Another example was when they prayed together until they

became “one heart and soul.” As a result, no one claimed that any of

his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned.

And they persevered in giving testimony about the resurrection of

Christ. And for good measure, it is said that “abundant grace was upon

them.” (cfr Acts 4,32-33)

            There are a good number of other instances recorded in the

Bible about how praying as a group has drawn many divine benefits.

            We cannot exaggerate the tremendous effects of a united

prayer, especially if accompanied with sacrifice. Prayer in itself,

even if done individually, is already powerful. It unites us with

Christ and makes us sharer with his powers.

            Christ himself said: “He who is not with Me is against Me,

and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Mt 12,30) If these

words are applicable to one person praying, we can just imagine the

tremendous effect prayer can have when done together!

            We need to do everything to popularize praying as a group,

starting with the family, then the parishes, schools, offices,

communities, villages, towns, provinces and worldwide. Let’s hope that

this practice of group prayer becomes widespread.

            It is, I believe, what is needed nowadays, considering

that in many places around the world, the scourge of secularization

and neo-paganism is mounting. God is being ostracized systematically

from the lives of people in different levels.

            For example, I read recently about a foreign political

leader talking about gender equality, all with nice words and catchy

expressions, but without making any reference to God. It is as if this

issue of gender equality can be achieved solely through man’s efforts.

            It is as if we can have a utopia here, where there will be

perfect justice, perfect equality, and that there will be no problem

at all. This is not being realistic. Our perfection is precisely when

we manage to handle our human imperfections by uniting ourselves to

Christ’s redemptive passion and death.

            This reference to Christ’s passion and death is still

considered taboo in many places, when in fact it is what resolves all

our problems, especially those which we cannot solve anymore no matter

what we do!