24th Sunday in Ordinary Time | 7 Habits of Highly Effective Catholics - Habit 2, Prayer
[Father Paul]
Today is the second installment of my series of homilies, "7 Habits of Highly Effective Catholics: Habit 2, Prayer." Last week, we spoke about faith; next week, we will explore the importance of studying and knowing our faith.
What is prayer? I want to start with a story. When I was first ordained a priest, a woman came to me who had been undergoing treatment for cancer. She was at the point in her journey when she needed confirmation from her doctor that she was now cancer-free, so she came to me for some prayers and the sacrament of the sick. In the sacrament ritual, I lay my hands on the person's forehead while praying for healing and peace. But this time, when I did it, I got intentional about it and imagined God's love and healing coming through my hands into her whole being.
And she passed out! Right there in front of me. "Dear Lord..." I thought. And when she came through, she said, "What did you do? I felt something!" As it turned out, she went to her doctor and received good news. I only mention this because sometimes prayer works.
I would like to address two questions about prayer today: What is prayer, and how do we pray? This is all very basic but also very important.
There are three kinds of prayer, and I offer them in order of depth:
Memorized prayers—the Hail Mary, the Our Father, and the Glory Be—are very easy to find on the internet. This category includes prayers written by others, prayers in scripture, and prayers composed by saints. These prayers are all so beautiful and inspiring. They can move us or even focus our attention on something other than our phones.
Talking to God. Just use your own words and tell God how you feel. It's like talking to a friend, a companion. You may not hear a voice responding to you, but in a way, you will; you can respond to your thoughts. You can also "ruminate" or "chew over" ideas about God, faith, and your own life. This is a deeper kind of prayer.
These two methods of prayer lead to a third kind of prayer, the prayer of silence. Sometimes, this kind of prayer is called contemplation. It's just sitting in silence with God. We do this after communion - it's like watching a beautiful sunset; there are no words anyway; enjoy God's presence.
The next topic is what to pray for, and here, the ancient saints can guide us as well:
Praise God. Tell God how wonderful God is, how much you love God, how worthy God is of our worship. This is why we sing beautiful hymns like the Gloria at Mass.
Thank God. Gratitude is not only psychologically healthy; it's also spiritually healthy. We have much to be thankful for, especially our faith and invitation to eternal life.
Confess your sins to God and ask for forgiveness. Enough said on that!
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, ask God for what you need. And be very specific.
There are many more things that can be said about prayer, but at the end of the day, it's about walking with Jesus and feeling His presence in your life. Somebody once sent me a story about God's closeness, which I am happy to share with you:
In a mother's womb were two babies. One asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?"
The other replied, "Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later." "Nonsense," said the first. "There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?" The second said, "I don't know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can't understand now." The first replied, "That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short.
Life after delivery is to be logically excluded." The second insisted, "Well I think there is something and maybe it's different than it is here. Maybe we won't need this physical cord anymore." The first replied, "Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery, there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere." "Well, I don't know," said the second, "but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us." The first replied "Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That's laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?" The second said, "She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her, this world would not and could not exist."
Said the first: "Well I don't see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn't exist." To which the second replied, "Sometimes, when you're in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above."
Not only is this passage a beautiful description of the presence of God, but also the reality and the goal of prayer. Just to recognize how much God loves and cares for us.
Pope Francis connects this womb of the love of God which surrounds us in prayer with the family:
"And it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Let us never forget to ask for this gift for each one of us! ... It is in the family that one learns to ask for and appreciate this gift of the Spirit. If one learns to say it with the same spontaneity with which one learns to say “father” and “mother,” one has learnt it forever. When this happens, the time of the whole of family life is enveloped in the womb of the love of God, and seeks spontaneously the time of prayer."
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