Daily Thought For December 22, 2021
Pondering Prayer
O KING OF ALL NATIONS,
the one for whom they have been yearning,
the cornerstone who unites all of them in perfect union,
come now, and rescue poor humanity,
which from dust you have fashioned.
The Church offers us the opportunity to gather together daily in prayer at the Eucharistic liturgy and the Liturgy of the Hours. For centuries Christians have broken up the day and night into periods of prayer, rest, work, and, yes, recreation.
Through these meditations we have tried to ponder and to pray, but what is prayer? Can I define what prayer is for you? No one else’s words fit right in our mouths or in our patterns of thought. Each of us needs to speak to God in our own language, in our own way. Even so,
Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know what the Scriptures reveal about prayer: one must also learn how to pray. Through a living transmission (Sacred Tradition) within “the believing and praying Church,” the Holy Spirit teaches the child of God how to pray (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2650, emphasis added).
The Catechism goes on to tell us that “the Holy Spirit is the living water ‘welling up to eternal life’ (Jn 4:14) in the heart that prays.” Christ is the source of the living water. “Indeed in the Christian life there are several wellsprings where Christ awaits us to enable us to drink of the Holy Spirit” (CCC, no. 2652). The Word of God and the liturgy of the Church are the main rich wellsprings.
Our life and work styles may make it difficult to participate in daily liturgy. What a gift for those who are able! They hear Jesus’ teachings and receive his very flesh to be one with him. Even so, all the more, we need to make the commute to work and the marketplace the table of sacrifice and prayer. We need to find his face in those around us.
Spiritual writers tell us that images either reinforce concentration on prayer or distract from prayer. Some Eastern religions are noted for trying to reach a state of reflection that is uninterrupted by images. In the Western way of thinking, images can symbolize realities beyond themselves. In today’s world of communication technology, images play a key role across all boundaries. To distill them from our senses isn’t likely. Instead, we need to try to pass the images through a type of spiritual sieve so that they become part of our prayer.
Act
The keystone is Jesus Christ. He is our focus, our lens—our sieve. What would Jesus do if he saw what we see, heard what we hear, touched what we touch? Are we quiet enough to know?
Pray
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant” (Lk 1:46).
Frisk, M. J. (2005). Joyous Expectation: Journeying through Advent with Mary (pp. 94–96). Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media.