Praying with God

“Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you...We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;...But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!"

The book of Daniel reminds how we ought to pray. When we begin by acknowledging God's greatness, admit our sin and rely on God's mercy, we are praying in a form that is both natural and honest. Throughout the bible, God hears prayers like this and responds.

From Proverbs 3:6, "In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight," to the Book of Revelation, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created," to the Our Father, we find examples of prayer that allow us to enter the presence of God honestly, openly and without fear.

Jesus is clear when his disciples ask him how to pray. Say "Our Father,...hallowed be the name, ....forgive us our trespasses," and believe that God will hear you. Because God yearns to to respond to us, to be near us, to guide us and challenge us, we need not be afraid, but there is little wiggle room in Jesus' prayer. When we have the humility to kneel in awe and wonder and to submit ourselves to God's will, only good can happen. When, on the other hand, we hedge and try to direct our own lives, we stumble over our pride and arrogance, and make it impossible for God to help us. 

Proverbs, the Prophets and Jesus are clear. When we praise God's goodness and trust in God's mercy, our prayer will rise like incense before the all loving God.

Today, make no excuses for your sins and trust God to heal you.

How do you pray?

Faith and Fear

“'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.' When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid." Mt 17: 5-6

The gospel tells us that Jesus took Peter, John and James apart from the other apostles on at least two occasions, but one wonders whether he invited them to accompany him even more often. Most of us have people who we trust deeply and share with on a more intimate level, and there is every reason to believe that Jesus would have done the same.

At the same time, the apostles who accompany him to the "high mountain," a reminder that Jesus is the new Moses, are afraid. Not sure what Jesus is about and unprepared spiritually and emotionally to accept the Jesus they are coming to know, the apostles are so busy running around "building tents" that we wonder whether they even hear God tell them that Jesus is his beloved Son.

Our own desire to please others and to get things done often has the same effect. So alert to what others think of us, and so afraid that we will not please God or others, we fail to hear God's voice urging us to come closer and to know him more deeply. Lent is a good time to slow down, to think, to pray, to listen, and to put aside the unnecessary fear that God will ask us to be or do something beyond us.

Today, take time to be quiet when you want to speak.

Is there anything about faith that frightens you?

Perfection not Perfectionism

"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

To be perfect like God is impossible for humans. Jesus knows this even as he commands it and he makes us wonder what he might mean. Some suggest that perfection here refers to uprightness and sincerity of character. Others remind us that in the Old Testament, perfection is the same as maturity, but the simplest interpretation, that we must strive to live the law as completely and totally as possible, is the best.

Trying our best is always important, and is the mark of the great saints and biblical figures. Working only to be adequate Christians, or finding a way to wiggle out of the Gospel's most demanding challenges, is unacceptable. As Jesus reminds the rich young man, we must sell everything and follow him. There is no getting around this, but we should not interpret it narrowly. 

Selling everything means letting go of our attachment to what we believe we have earned and deserve. That many have worked hard is not the question, but when our "possessions" cause us not to see those in need with God's eyes, and ignore or reject their legitimate cries for help, we sin. We can only be "perfect" like God by responding to the broken with compassion and love

Put another way, what would most of us claim as our rightfully earned reward if we were born in poverty in the South Sudan or Zimbabwe? Would we be less in God's eyes if we struggled to eat, to protect our children and feed them? At the same time, the children of the poor must also live the Gospel perfectly by working to care about and respond to others unconditionally just as God cares for them in the middle of their poverty. God's perfection means finding the ground upon which rich and poor alike can work together to create a more just and peaceful world.

Today, pray to live the Gospel fully and transparently.

Have you known anyone who lived the Gospel perfectly?

Integrity

"If you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God." Mt 5: 23-24

Even as a boy, I loved this section of St Matthew's Gospel. Imagine what a nightmare it must have been for a poor person, making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the first and probably only time in his life, to stop, pray and realize that he is not in what his Jewish tradition would call right relationship. Perhaps his prayer unveiled an unresolved hurt or conflict or reminded him that had undermined another person's reputation. Whatever the situation, Jesus demands that anyone discovering his fault return home and reconcile with whomever he is at odds with before presenting his gift at the altar.

Theologians have often spoken of conscience as the still, small voice within that alerts us to our own dishonesty or sin, and demands we pay attention to it even if it might be impossible to formally heal the wound we have created. A tender (not to say scrupulous) conscience is a gift because it helps us pay more attention to others than ourselves, and helps us work towards a peace filled world. That Jesus insists we seek reconciliation before approaching the altar reminds us to strive to make the Eucharist a celebration of unity and healing, and a gathering of believers committed to renewing themselves in Christ.

Today, ask forgiveness from someone you have hurt.

What has helped you seek reconciliation even when you did not feel like it?