Christ at Prayer
As we draw near to the end this Lenten season, my thoughts return to the mystery of Jesus in the desert. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, Himself often drew apart in solitude, even at night, at decisive moments, and for 40 days in the desert.
In fact, all his life is a prayer because he is in a constant communion of love with the Father.
–COMPENDIUM: Catechism of the Catholic Church 542
In one of the discussion forums I participate in, my friend Padraig has been leading a discussion on prayer. For him, prayer is essential. “One thing now I notice about my own life's journey as a pilgrimage of prayer…everything I see in my life that has or is happening I see in relationship to God. I know I simply cannot live without it. All TRUE prayer and I emphasize all TRUE prayer is made up of this: the Holy Spirit crying within us to the Father conforming us into the image of Christ. There's a great mystery here, I think such prayer is the beginning of eternity, the hallway to heaven, for make no mistake about it we will all spend our eternity in prayer. For if there were no prayer there would be no eternal life.”
In Medjugorje, the Blessed Virgin Mary has urged us to “…pray, pray, pray!” She asks us to pray in such a way as to make our lives a prayer. And in Sacred Scripture, the Apostle Paul tells us to, “Pray without ceasing.”
(1 Thessalonians 5: 17)
This modern world we live in is certainly very busy. Right now, I’m recovering from a very packed two weeks. Where we live, spring break fell right in the middle of Lent. I started by working a final 12-hour shift at the hospital. The next day, my family and I hopped a plane for the east coast. My wife had a conference in Baltimore, and we combined this with a vacation visiting relatives in Virginia and touring our nation’s capitol. On day 11, we arrived home at 10:30pm, and I was up early for another 12-hour shift at the hospital; and then another shift the next day. We finished the break on Sunday by going to mass together as a family; then we napped the rest of the afternoon away.
It was great to be reunited with my family who I had not seen in years, and it was inspiring to stand and gaze upon the various monuments honoring those who strived and fought for the ideals on which our country was founded. It was a good trip, and it left me not only a little tired physically, but also somewhat spiritually disheveled. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to take quiet walks, Rosary in hand, and to have a work schedule that allows me to go to weekday Mass once or twice during the week. It is when we seek time in solitude and quiet that we are able to listen to God speak to us. “Be still and know that I am God...” (Psalm 46:10) It is during the Holy Mass (the highest form of prayer) that I am sometimes flooded with incredible peace and joy and understanding.
When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."
--John 17
In His prayer, Jesus teaches us that we are to be in the world, but not of the world. He tells us that eternal life is to know Him. And how can we know Him if we do not spend time with Him?
My friend Cecil who painted Christ at Prayer said this: “I think Christ at Prayer is simple and reflects on the purpose of the painting—how we need to separate ourselves from worldly events and allow our Lord to mold our hearts and souls to His.’
At one point in our discussion, Padraig compared prayer to our very breath.
“We must remember God more often than we draw breath.”
--Saint Gregory of Nazianzus
And if we do not breathe, we cannot live.
I am reminded of the words of the song Breathe by Michael W. Smith:
This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your Holy Presence living in me.
This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very Word spoken to me.
And I am desperate for You.
And I am lost without You…
This is the air I breathe:
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me…
This modern world we live in is certainly very busy. Right now, I’m recovering from a very packed two weeks. Where we live, spring break fell right in the middle of Lent. I started by working a final 12-hour shift at the hospital. The next day, my family and I hopped a plane for the east coast. My wife had a conference in Baltimore, and we combined this with a vacation visiting relatives in Virginia and touring our nation’s capitol. On day 11, we arrived home at 10:30pm, and I was up early for another 12-hour shift at the hospital; and then another shift the next day. We finished the break on Sunday by going to mass together as a family; then we napped the rest of the afternoon away.
It was great to be reunited with my family who I had not seen in years, and it was inspiring to stand and gaze upon the various monuments honoring those who strived and fought for the ideals on which our country was founded. It was a good trip, and it left me not only a little tired physically, but also somewhat spiritually disheveled. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to take quiet walks, Rosary in hand, and to have a work schedule that allows me to go to weekday Mass once or twice during the week. It is when we seek time in solitude and quiet that we are able to listen to God speak to us. “Be still and know that I am God...” (Psalm 46:10) It is during the Holy Mass (the highest form of prayer) that I am sometimes flooded with incredible peace and joy and understanding.
When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."
--John 17
In His prayer, Jesus teaches us that we are to be in the world, but not of the world. He tells us that eternal life is to know Him. And how can we know Him if we do not spend time with Him?
My friend Cecil who painted Christ at Prayer said this: “I think Christ at Prayer is simple and reflects on the purpose of the painting—how we need to separate ourselves from worldly events and allow our Lord to mold our hearts and souls to His.’
At one point in our discussion, Padraig compared prayer to our very breath.
“We must remember God more often than we draw breath.”
--Saint Gregory of Nazianzus
And if we do not breathe, we cannot live.
I am reminded of the words of the song Breathe by Michael W. Smith:
This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your Holy Presence living in me.
This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very Word spoken to me.
And I am desperate for You.
And I am lost without You…
This is the air I breathe:
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me…
posted by DarrellBowles | 12:53 PM
<< Home