THE LIGHT IS ON – SESSION 5

YOURS IS THE KINGDOM: JOY AND THE LIFE OF PRAYER

We come tonight to the last of these Lenten talks, addressing the subject of joy and the life of prayer.  The topic reminds me of one of my favorite anecdotes from seminary days.  When I was studying at the Dominican run Angelicum University in Rome, one of the professors, Fr. Paul Murray recounted that, when he was a novice in a Dominican monastery, the novices noticed that some of the older monks had a consistent aura of prayerfulness and peace, of charity and holiness.  And so some of the novices asked one of the older monks what the secret to holiness is.  The older monk responded quietly, “Don’t tell the Jesuits, but . . . we haven’t got a secret.  Our secret is the Gospel.”  And then he added, “But I do have two pieces of advice that will help greatly on the way to holiness.”  Well, the younger monks got out their pens and notepads, awaiting this precious advice.  The older one then smiled and said, “First, pray; and second, keep at it.”  And then he walked away.

I.  The Universal Call to Deep Prayer: The Opportunities and the Struggles

The point the older monk was making is that the path to holiness is not a matter of some secret knowledge or of practices reserved to the select few.  If one thinks about it, such is the case with other matters central to our call to holiness. After all, is there a secret to love, of husband and wife, and parents and children, of country or town?  Is there a secret of honest conversation, or for that matter a secret to being honest and sincere, gracious or just?  Well, prayer is being in the loving presence of God, of true conversation with Him, and with the angels and saints, of being more and more open to the truth and grace of heaven.  And all people can enter deeply into that prayer.  In speaking of popular piety as central to evangelization, Pope Francis commends the “spirituality incarnated in the culture of the lowly” a spirituality that “discovers and expresses that content more by way of symbols than by discursive reason.”  Evangelii Gaudium 124.  He goes on to commend “the steadfast faith of those mothers tending their sick who, though perhaps barely familiar with the articles of the creed, cling to the rosary; of all the hope poured into a candle lighted in the humble home with a prayer for help from Mary, or the gaze of tender love directed to Christ crucified.  . . . They are manifestations of a theological life nourished by the working of the Holy Spirit.”  Evangelii Gaudium 125.  

 Now it is certainly true, as we discussed in an earlier talk, that greater learning does help us appreciate the spiritual realm more, as greater understanding brings up deeper and deeper into any field.  As Bishop Loverde wrote in his pastoral letter Go Forth With Hearts on Fire, if one truly loves another, one does want to know more and more about the beloved.  And that greater knowledge increases love all the more.  Go Forth With Hearts on Fire  46-47.  And, particularly because the spiritual realm is higher than our senses, and thus invisible to us, we do need Revelation, the teachings of the Church, and an attempt to use our own intellect, in union with the learning of others, to advance into an understanding of that realm, and to communicate that understanding to others.  As C.S. Lewis pointed out in his famous book Mere Christianity, theology is like a map for the spiritual realm, and for our journey to heaven.  See Mere Christianity, book 4, ch. 1.  There is certainly a difference between having a map and travelling.  But one does need a map, and by extension, information about travelling, to get very far.  And, likewise, one does need information from heaven in order to be in contact with that greater realm.  And so, we should seek to know more about the faith, both because our love of God impels us further, and because, as a husband and wife love each other more when they know each other more, as a man loves a country more when he understands it more, as even one loves music or art or sports more when they know them more, our love for God does increase when an increase in the knowledge of God springs from love in the first place, as the faithful Apostles’ knowledge and love of Jesus grew together.  But, as Jesus called the Apostles to be with Him well before they understood who He was and is, so also He calls all peoples right from the beginning.  We should not wait until we know enough in order to be deeply at prayer, for then we will be waiting until judgment day.  Rather, our life of prayer and our understanding of the faith should grow together.

If the life of prayer is accessible to all people, why then is it so rare?  For the ability to know the faith, and increase in understanding of it is more accessible than ever.  It is accessible in the Scriptures, in the teachings of the Church, and in the knowledge of, and insights from, the saints throughout the ages.  With Catholic bookstores, periodicals, books, and internet sites, the wisdom of the Church is now more available than ever.  What St. Thomas Aquinas said 800 years ago is even more true now, the least maid can know more about God and His plan for our salvation than the greatest of philosophers outside of the faith.  See St. Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Apostles’ Creed, introduction.  It is a matter of taking advantage of the keys to holiness that are right in front of us.  Why then is it not used more often?  Certainly, in many cases, people have not yet received the message of salvation; and the call to evangelize described by Pope Francis and Bishop Loverde, for that matter shown by the calling of the Holy Spirit since Pentecost, is a call given to all of us.  

But also, even among the faithful, the life of deep prayer is often neglected because, while this life is open to all people, it is that narrow way, involving sacrifice, involving holiness, involving humility and a life with Christ.  So much easier to take the broad way of cheap, easy entertainment that the world offers, so much easier to be content with worldly pleasures and power that can be more easily bought and controlled.  See Matt. 7:13-14.  To be truly open to God, to be open to Christ who brings us the infinite call of love.  And that is much more difficult, and so it is not tried as much.  It is an example of what the great Catholic author G.K. Chesterton wrote long ago, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult and left untried.”  C.K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong With the World (1910), book 1, ch. 5, quoted in Go Forth With Hearts on Fire 39.  The life of prayer likewise is difficult, it is challenging, but it is the way to true joy.  And in that context, Pope Francis and Bishop Loverde in their call to true Christian joy and evangelization address the life of prayer and give guidance in that respect.  Their guidance is mostly common sense, but common sense that must be emphasized again in the midst of a noisy world.

II.  Pope Francis’ Advice on Prayer

And so, in the last section of the apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis speaks of being “spirit filled evangelizers,” that is being fully open to the Holy Spirit as the early Christians were at that first Pentecost long ago.   In particular, he calls for the interaction of at least four sides to our life with Christ: a deep sense of friendship with Jesus, a deep concern for others, a zeal for sharing the message of salvation, and a willingness to learn from others in order to deepen our own faith.  And all of these aspects of our prayer and evangelization are brought together with the faith in the Resurrection as applied throughout time and space.  And, of course, we are guided in our life of prayer by the maternal and queenly power of our Mother Mary.

A.  Developing a Friendship with Jesus

Pope Francis emphasizes first of all developing a deep friendship with Jesus Christ as the center of all evangelization and prayer.  In his words, “Without prolonged moments of adoration, of prayerful encounter with the word, of sincere conversation with the Lord, our work becomes meaningless.”  Evangelii Gaudium 262.  He thus addresses in quick order three ways of growing in our friendship with Christ through prayer: (1) spending time with Jesus present to us in the Eucharist; (2) reading carefully the Scriptures, the written word of God; (3) and being in deep and honest conversation with Jesus.  Regarding the first point, Bishop Loverde likewise says that adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and even simply being with Jesus present in the Eucharist increases our friendship with Him.  He quotes an earlier statement of Pope Francis, “If we are to know the Lord, we must go to Him.  Listen to Him in silence before the Tabernacle and approach Him in the sacraments.”  Go Forth With Hearts on Fire 36 (quoting a Twitter message of Pope Francis from October 21, 2013.)  Archbishop Fulton Sheen recommended that, in addition to Mass, all clergy spend an hour with Jesus in the Eucharist each day, and that all other people take at least a half hour with Him.  Some of that time can certainly be used praying in other ways as well, such as with the Scripture, the rosary or other devotions, for we have a greater sense of Jesus praying with us and receiving our prayers.  But, as Bishop Loverde points out, it is important to take at least some time in silence, listening to the voice of Christ, as Elijah heard the voice of God in the quiet, whispering wind.  See 1 Kings 19:9-18.

In addition to spending time with Jesus in the Eucharist, it is also important to listen to the Almighty God in His written word, the Sacred Scriptures.  For, what is often said in the liturgy is also true in all of our prayer, the written Word proclaims the personal Word of God, Jesus Christ, and prepares the way for Him, as the prophets of the Old Covanent and especially St. John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ.  And, in addition to giving clergy advice on how to use Sacred Scripture for homilies and other teaching, Pope Francis addresses the fact that all of the people of God should listen to Him in the inspired words.  As he says, “All evangelization is based upon the Word, listened to, meditated upon, lived, celebrated and listened to. . . . Let us receive the sublime treasure of the revealed word.”  Evangelii Gaudium 174-75.  In his pastoral letter, Bishop Loverde likewise strongly recommends what is called lectio divina, a prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture, or other spiritual writing.  See Sent Forth With Hearts on Fire 34-35.  One can engage in such a prayerful reading of Scripture in several ways, but they all involve reading a text, and delving deeper into this divine wisdom as one thinks about it, prays over it, applies it to one’s life, and takes inspiration from it, reading the passage several times in the process.  One could, for example, take a book of the Bible (or the writing of a saint) and read a short passage (e.g., the Beatitudes or the raising of Lazarus) and pray about it, read it again, enter more deeply into the event or theme it expresses, and read it a third time, applying it to one’s life and trying to gain strength from the journey with it, guided by this light from heaven.  It takes time, but if one reads just a chapter of one of the Gospels once a week in this fashion, then at the end of about six months, the wisdom and light of that Gospel will have become a crucial part of one’s life.

Pope Francis also speaks of prayer as a conversation with God.  And in such a conversation, we are called to speak with God honestly and sincerely about our struggles and hopes, our thanksgiving and repentance, our truest desires and our needs.  And we are called to listen to the insights of heaven and the promptings of the Holy Spirit that occur when we are truly open to Him, callings that are often unpredictable but that always lead us forward.  In order to engage in this conversation, we need to put time aside for Jesus, rather than simply rushing in and speaking a few words to Him.  As Bishop Loverde calls for daily prayer as a conversation with God, or as he phrases it, “a phone call home” to our final native land with the Lord.  He observes, “Though often expressed in written or spoken words and in sung hymns, prayer is essentially a conversation.  It is a conversation that challenges us in different ways than anything else.”  Go Forth With Hearts on Fire 32.  He calls for the faithful to set aside specific time each day, at least 10 minutes per day, to speak with God and hear Him.  Spending such time focused on Christ in the midst of a busy and noisy world takes effort, for God speaks to us more in a quiet voice than the overbearing voices of the world.  He speaks to us mostly in quiet because He wants to give us the choice of whether to listen or not.  But, in that conversation with God, He promises that when we knock, a door will be opened; when we ask, God will answer.  See Matt. 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10.  What is behind that door, what God gives as an answer may be surprising, but that is because God is not predictable; an encounter with Him is an adventure.  And because it is an adventure, many people are afraid of it.

B.  Prayer and the Service of Others

And this point about being open to God’s true answer brings us to that second aspect of prayer, namely, putting prayer into practice by concern for others.   As Pope Francis points out, deep prayer must be combined with action in the world, both in bringing God’s love to people and in bringing His saving word to them.  He quotes Blessed John Paul II, “We must reject the temptation to offer a privatized and individualistic spirituality which ill accords with the demands of charity, to say nothing of the implications of the incarnation.”  Evangelii Gaudium 262 (quoting Novo Millenio Inuente (2006.))   Pope Francis observes that many people want to be deeply in prayer, with a deep sense of friendship with Jesus, but do not wish to join with Him in His wounds and His sorrow for humanity.  But such a friendship, which is not with Jesus on the Cross, or in those who suffer or are in want, is not true friendship.  As he declares, “Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others.  He hopes that we will stop looking for those professional or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misery.”  Evangelii Gaudium 270.  

Such a path is again more difficult, more challenging, but also more rewarding for it helps us to see Jesus Christ present all around us, and to show our friendship for Him through all of those who are in need.  We can indeed thank God, as the Second Eucharistic prayer says, that we are able to stand in His presence and even minister even to Him.  God shows such humility that, as He came to us 2000 odd years ago, and allowed Himself to be in need so that Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the magi, along with so many others, could have the joy of serving even God, likewise He sends us those in need now that we can have the same joy, of offering gifts to the king of Kings and see Him gratefully receive Him.  See Matt. 25:31-46.  As Pope Francis says, when we are deeply in prayer, serving the needs of others is not a burdensome duty but rather “the result of a person decision which gives us joy and  meaning to our lives.”  Evangelii Gaudium 269.  

C.  Sharing the Good News With Others

        This deep concern for others makes our evangelization so much more powerful, for when we care about others, we become more persuasive to them.   For, as Pope Francis points out, evangelization certainly does not mean looking down upon others with arrogance from a place on high.  “Jesus does not want us to be grandees who look down upon others, but men and women of the people.  . . . By doing so we will know the missionary joy of sharing life with God’s faithful people as we strive to light a fire in the heart of the world.”  Evangelii Gaudium 271.   For we all know that, if we perceive another person as arrogant, as putting himself above others, there is little desire to listen to him, and in fact a desire to contradict him.  But when a person really cares for us, is truly in humble service, there is an openness to his wisdom.  Certainly, the fact that a person is charitable and imbued with the love of God does not make his views correct, nor does arrogance alone make one’s views wrong.  But, as Jesus says, we are meant to be the salt of the earth, and salt makes food more pleasing, and a good presentation makes the goodness of food, or anything else more apparent and attractive.  Matt 5:13.  Likewise, to use the words of the psalmist, we are meant to make the wisdom of God, the light of Christ, the eternal law of love, sweet as the honeycomb, more desirable than gold.  See Ps. 19:11, 119:103.  Thus does Bishop Loverde write that the charity of the early Christians “moved the hearts of those around them.  It sparked an interest in finding out what exactly enabled them to love one another.  So it is that charity – our faith in action – evangelizes others today.”  Go Forth With Hearts on Fire 27.

        And thus, through this prayer we are more and more friends of Jesus and, through this joy and this service, we make the faith attractive to others, not as an obligation, but as a matter of a natural desire to share the inexhaustible riches we have received.  For all good things are enjoyed fully only when others share them with us.  We think of even delight at a sport, at art or music, at fine literature.  We seek others to share such joys with us.  Even more so, when we come in more and more personal friendship with the Almighty God, who is the source of all such delights, we naturally seek to share that joy and light with others.  As Pope Francis says, “What kind of love would not feel the need to speak of the beloved, to point Him out, to make Him known.”  Evangelii Gaudium 264.  Or as Bishop Loverde writes, “Once we have tasted the goodness of the Lord, we discover that the practice of our faith is not boring burdensome, or negative, but rather, life-giving, transformative and overflowing.  Naturally, we desire to share this with others.”  Thus, the joy at prayer abounds in the joy of sharing, of generosity, comes to its fullness in bringing the good news to others.” Go Forth With Hearts on Fire 24.

        D.  Receiving the Good News From Others 

        But it is not only a matter of sharing the good news, or even other goods with other people.  We also receive wisdom from them.  For we remember that we are not only evangelists, but also disciples, always seeking a greater and greater understanding of the Almighty God.  Certainly, there are the obvious ways of learning more and more about Him.  But also, as stated in the last talk, Pope Francis speaks of the poor and those in need giving us a sense of the faith by allowing us to encounter an image of Jesus Christ humble and suffering for us.  And likewise, as Pope Francis says, “When we live out a spirituality of drawing nearer to others and seeking their welfare, our hearts are opened wide to the Lord’s greatest and most beautiful gifts.  Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God.”  We remember that even Mary pondered on the messages of the shepherds and magi, and of Simeon and Anna, when they brought gifts and blessings to Jesus.  If even the Mother of God is willing to learn from others, and if that willingness to learn is a part of her love for us, then certainly we should be willing to learn from those whom we meet, even those outside of the faith, or those who do not seem to have much understanding.  For each person reflects the glory of God in a different way.  And thus, in seeing each person in the divine image, we learn more and more about the great Artist who created each one of us.  It is often said that there is no better way to learn than to teach.  Such is the case above all in evangelization when those who bring the word of God to others are also students before Divine Wisdom revealed in all people and all the world.  This joy of giving and receiving divine love and wisdom is a first promise on earth of the joy of the greater kingdom.  

III.  We Struggle in the World, but the Greater Kingdom is With Us

Of course, we know that, when we go forth into the world, we are subject to its uncertainties, to the seeming failure of our efforts, although nothing can really be a failure when done with Christ.  Pope Francis addresses the complaints of those who say that it is particularly difficult to evangelize in this skeptical and busy age.  And in his pastoral letter Bishop Lovedere includes a section entitled “Has the Going ever been tougher?”  But, as Pope Francis observes, it was not exactly easy for the first Christians in the midst of the pagan Roman Empire.  And likewise, as he says, “Every period of history is marked by the pressure of human weakness, self-adsorption, complacency and selfishness, to say nothing of the concupiscence which prey upon us all.”  Evangelii Gaudium 263.  As he points out the saints have ever dealt with such difficulties, and we should learn from and imitate their hope.  And the hope is always in the Resurrection.  As Jesus took the darkest of seeming defeats and made the Cross the bridge to everlasting life, so He will make all of our efforts, not only even, but especially difficulties, disappointments, and frustrations, sources of final triumph.  For, as Pope Francis points out, “Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the pas it remains a constant, vital power which has permeated the world.  . . . In the midst of darkness something always springs to life and produces fruit.”  Evangelii Gaudium 276.  He grants that sometimes we may feel tired or not see through to the end.  But as Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”  Matt. 5:4.  The triumph of victory is always greatest when the difficulties and barriers were greatest.  And likewise, in the midst of the darkest times, God raises up the greatest saints, the martyrs who took on the world, the great teachers who resisted heresies, the great missionaries who overcame vast distances or even (as with St. Patrick) slavery and poverty, to bring the light to all nations.  

But of course, we do not come to this friendship with Jesus alone.  We have, as the letter to the Hebrews says, a cloud of witnesses surrounding us in this great endeavor.  See Heb. 12:1-2.  And, guiding them all, guiding us on this pilgrimage is the Mother of Jesus, is our celestial Mother Mary.  And thus Pope Benedict and Bishop Loverde conclude their writings on evangelization by calling us to receive Mary as our Mother and guide as St. John did long ago.  In the Old Testament, there is the image of Lady Wisdom, guiding all who are willing into the house of God, making them even, as the Book of Wisdom says “friends of God and prophets.”  Wis. 7:27; see also Wis. 7:-10; Prov. 1:20-33, 8:1-9:12; Sir. 1:3-20; Bar. 3.  All the more so, the Mother of Jesus brings us closer to her Son, preparing the way for us, as both the Queen of heaven and earth, and yet as the humble woman of Nazareth, who shared in the sacrifices and struggles of our lives, in the family and in exile, in prayer and in learning, in charity and in hospitality, and who can sympathize and teach as only a mother does.  Thus, they both call us to look to Mary as the star of the new evangelization, and to ask her assistance as we say with her, “Be it done to me according to thy word” and thus receive the ability to say with her “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.  My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  See Luke 1:38, 46-47.

As Pope Francis points out, Mary above all had the humility and poverty of spirit to be fully open to God’s will, and therefore could sense His power taking on the powerful of the world and see how “He has shown the strength of His arm.  He has scattered the proud in their conceit.  He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.  He has come to the help of His servant Israel, For He has remembered His promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.”  Luke 1:51-53.  When we, like Mary turn away from the riches and power we think are our own to come in humility before the Almighty God, we are filled with the treasures of heaven.  When we set aside the distractions of the world to listen to the written word of God and to be with the Word of God Jesus Christ, that light comes down upon us.  When we stop worrying about the prestige and comforts of the world and turn in joy to the service of the poor or anyone in need and share with them the joy of the Gospel we have received, we receive the delight of knowing the glory that God shows through each person.  And when we realize our poverty before God and need to learn from anyone that God sends our way, then in this self-emptying, there is room for God to fill us with the joy of the Gospel, a treasure that increases with the sharing.  Such humility, service, and recognition of our need for God and others allows us to ascend to the heights in prayer and know the fulfillment of the word of Jesus, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of heaven.”  Luke 6:20.