(Day 24). For Christians, contemplative prayer is an act of the heart by which we fix our gaze in faith upon Jesus, quietly pondering his word and his saving mysteries. As the simple farmer of Ars told Saint John Vianney: in praying before the Tabernacle, “I look at him and he looks at me”. By gazing on our Lord in this way, we come to feel his loving gaze upon us and our hearts are purified. This in turn enables us to see others in the light of that truth and compassion which Jesus brings to all. Christ himself is the model for all contemplative prayer: amid the activity of his public ministry he always found time for a prayer that expressed his loving communion with the Father. At the Transfiguration, Jesus prepared the disciples for his coming passion and death by enabling them to contemplate his divine glory. Through our prayer, may we persevere in union with him on the path of love where contemplation and charity become one. For, as Saint John of the Cross, the Church’s great master of contemplative prayer teaches us: one act of pure love is more useful to the Church than all the other works put together. (5/5/21)
(Day 25). The great spiritual masters recognize that prayer is not always easy, for our human nature is frequently distracted or tempted by seemingly more important priorities. The Catechism teaches that prayer, although a free and unmerited gift of God’s grace, can be affected by our human experiences of discouragement, sadness or disappointment (cf. No. 2728). Many of the saints in fact experienced long periods of spiritual dryness and even darkness. They teach us that the only response to these temptations is greater perseverance. Saint Ignatius of Loyola uses military imagery to stress the importance of discipline in our efforts to serve under the banner of Christ. Saint Anthony learned from his harsh spiritual battles in the desert that although God may at times seem absent amid these struggles, he remains always at our side. In our daily efforts to persevere in prayer may we trust that our own spiritual combat, like that of Jacob and the angel (cf. Gen 28:16), will bear fruit in a deeper and more mature relationship with the Lord. (5/12/21)
(Day 26). We now consider some common difficulties we encounter in our practice of prayer. The first is distraction. Prayer, like study and work, demands concentration and mental discipline. This calls for our cultivation of the virtue of vigilance, by which we focus our lives on doing the Lord’s will daily in expectation of his return. A second difficulty is the experience of spiritual aridity, moments of dryness when our hearts – as the Catechism teaches – have “no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones” (No. 2731). The spiritual masters acknowledge that the life of faith involves times of consolation but also of desolation, when we share in the Lord’s sufferings. A third difficulty is acedia or sloth, a form of spiritual fatigue that leads to the deadly temptation to abandon prayer altogether. The saints faced these same difficulties in their prayer and they teach us that true progress in the spiritual life comes about through daily perseverance, like that of Job who remained constant even amid his many afflictions. As we strive to grow in our own life of prayer let us ask for the grace of perseverance, confident that our loving Father will grant us, through the Son and in the Spirit, all that we need to draw us ever closer to him. (5/19/21)
(Day 27). We now consider those times when our prayers appear to go unanswered. We think, for example, of the heartfelt prayers we offer for our sick children, or for our friends who experience great pain. In our disappointment, we may feel that God is deaf to our pleas; we may even be tempted to stop praying. Jesus, our great teacher of prayer, taught us in the Our Father to ask for many things, but above all that God’s will be done. A mature faith trusts in the Lord’s providence, his greater plan for our lives and our world, yet we naturally feel deep disappointment when our petitions seem to go unheard. Jesus shows us by his own example that God understands our sufferings, yet does not always immediately grant our wishes. In Gethsemane, Jesus offered a prayer that seemed to go unanswered; yet his complete trust in the Father’s will led to our salvation and the glory of the resurrection. Evil never has the last word. If there are times when we walk in the dark, guided only by the light of faith, may we never abandon our trust in the Father’s will to make all things work together for our ultimate good. (5/26/21)
(Day 28). The Gospels show us that the Lord chooses his apostles only after a night of intense prayer. Before every crucial moment in his ministry, Jesus withdraws to pray. Only after long prayer does Jesus question the disciples about their faith in him and then reveal to them his coming passion, death and resurrection. On the mount of the Transfiguration, Peter, James and John then see the Lord in prayer, revealed in his glory as the beloved Son of the Father. At the Last Supper he assures Peter that he has prayed for him, for his conversion and for his future mission. Like the apostles, we too can count on the Lord’s prayer to sustain us in our journey of faith and discipleship. The Catechism reminds us that the Risen Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, constantly intercedes before him on our behalf (cf. No. 2741). As we strive to persevere in prayer, may we be confident that our petitions will rise to heaven on eagles’ wings and, with and in Jesus, always find a hearing before the throne of the Father. (6/2/21)
(Day 29). Reflecting on Saint Paul’s encouragement to pray unceasingly (cf. 1 Thess 5:17), the Church’s spiritual writers have questioned how it is possible to remain in a constant state of prayer. The Russian ascetic tradition developed the prayer of the heart, based on repeating the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”, until they become like the air we breathe. The Greek monk Evagrius compared prayer to a flame burning perpetually in our hearts even as we carry out our daily tasks. Prayer thus becomes the backdrop against which every action of our lives finds its deepest meaning. If God can find time for each of us, surely we can find time for him! The monastic tradition teaches the spiritual fruitfulness of balancing prayer and work. By maintaining that balance in our own lives, we too can grow in our union with God and keep the fire of divine love daily burning in our hearts. (6/9/21)
(Day 30). In the final hours of his life, Jesus’ constant dialogue with the Father becomes all the more intense, as he approaches his saving death and resurrection. In the great “priestly prayer” of the Last Supper, Jesus intercedes for his disciples and for all those who will believe through their word. In the agony in the garden, he offers his anguish to the Father and lovingly embraces his will. At the darkest hour of his suffering on the cross, Jesus continues to pray, using the traditional words of the Psalms, identifying himself with the poor and abandoned of our world. In those moments, the crucified Lord takes upon himself the burden of all the sins of the world. For our sake, he experiences the distance separating sinners from God, and becomes the supreme and eternal intercessor for all mankind. In our own life of prayer, may we always be mindful that the Lord never ceases to pray for us, uniting us to his own eternal dialogue of love with the Father in the communion of the Holy Spirit. (6/16/21)