Today is Respect Life Sunday, a time for all disciples of the Lord Jesus to contemplate the sacred gift of life and the battle that is raging against the sacred gifts of God. If so, then why on earth did I schedule a Jesuit to come and speak to us about prayer when we’re supposed to talk about respecting life? Such a question might give us a hint at where the problem began, and where the problem remains.
Prayer is a communication with the One that is beyond us, yet lives within our hearts. Prayer is an encounter with the One that is “above and beyond” our capacities to fathom, yet is closer to us than we are to ourselves. Prayer is listening to the silent Word, to the creative silence of God’s presence, a Silence that sings the song we long to hear…a song of love. Prayer allows humanity to approach the world of spirit and life, a “place” that draws us like it is our true “home”. Prayer allows us to ponder the horizon of life without fear, without a need to control what is beyond us. Jesus of Nazareth prayed. Yes, he worked all day. He taught his hearers about the Kingdom promised. He touched those living with infirmity, with the power of the Kingdom promised. He did all of this. But through all of this, Jesus prayed to the One he called “our Father in Heaven”, and he asked his followers to pray as he did. In Jesus of Nazareth, we see a complete obedience to the will of the Invisible God. This divine will, this plan for humanity, is known in and through prayer. We are called to be pray-ers.
When did our world stop respecting life? When did our world stop praying? Maybe a better question is: Have we stopped respecting the sacred gift of life? Have we stopped praying, listening to and for the will of God? What about this faith Jesus speaks of, this power that is said to move mountains? How is “faith” tied into the spiritual discipline of prayer?
Though it is overly simplistic, I would ask us to think a bit about what (whom) we give our hearts to. Think about these questions of conscience with me:
Do we live and act in the world as if God does not exist? Do we plan all things and decide all things and seek all things without thinking and praying…is this what God wants of me, is this what God wants of my family, is this what God wants of our parish? What power or principle or person guides our living in the here and now? Do we act as if we believe only in ourselves? Has science become the Lord of our lives? Have our “needs and wants” supplanted the Lord, as the center of our heart’s desire? In all of this, where does Jesus of Nazareth fit in with our decisions and deliberations and actions?
Respecting life comes from a kind of knowing that is the fruit of prayer. Respecting life comes from a kind of knowing given to us through our encounter with the mystery and majesty of the Creator of all. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, respecting life is accepting and cherishing all of human life, from conception to natural death, as God’s gift (2319). Respecting life is about our stewardship of all life lived on this good earth. Why on earth should we think about prayer on Respect Life Sunday? AMDG
Msgr. David
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
The mission of SJN Career Ministry is to provide a support group, networking opportunities, job search resources, and job leads for members and non-members of the church community who are unemployed, under-employed or returning to the work place. It is comprised of dedicated, focused and results oriented volunteers with a common goal of providing a positive environment, spiritual enrichment, motivation and inspiration to the job search process.