Monday, September 30, 2013
575. How may we strengthen our filial trust? (part 1)
(Comp 575) Filial trust is tested when
we think we are not heard. We must therefore ask ourselves if we think God is
truly a Father whose will we seek to fulfill, or simply a means to obtain what
we want. If our prayer is united to that of Jesus, we know that he gives us
much more than this or that gift. We receive the Holy Spirit who transforms our
heart.
“In brief”
(CCC 2756) Filial trust is put to the test when we feel that
our prayer is not always heard. The Gospel invites us to ask ourselves about
the conformity of our prayer to the desire of the Spirit.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2734) Filial trust is tested
- it proves itself - in tribulation (Cf. Rom 5:3-5). The principal difficulty
concerns the prayer of petition, for
oneself or for others in intercession. Some even stop praying because they
think their petition is not heard. Here two questions should be asked: Why do
we think our petition has not been heard? How is our prayer heard, how is it
"efficacious"? (CCC 2735) In the
first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we praise God or give
him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly concerned
whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. On the other hand, we demand to
see the results of our petitions. What is the image of God that motivates our
prayer: an instrument to be used? or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Reflection
(CCC 2736) Are we convinced that
"we do not know how to pray as we ought"? (Rom 8:26). Are we asking
God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need before
we ask him (Cf. Mt 6:8), but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his
children lies in their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom,
to be able truly to know what he wants (Cf. Rom 8:27). [IT CONTINUES]
Sunday, September 29, 2013
574. What are the difficulties in prayer? (part 2 continuation)
574. What are the difficulties in prayer? (part 2 continuation)
(Comp 574 repetition) Distraction is a
habitual difficulty in our prayer. It takes our attention away from God and can
also reveal what we are attached to. Our heart therefore must humbly turn to
the Lord. Prayer is often affected by dryness. Overcoming this difficulty
allows us to cling to the Lord in faith, even without any feeling of
consolation. Acedia is a form of spiritual laziness due to relaxed vigilance
and a lack of custody of the heart.
“In brief”
(CCC 2755) Two frequent temptations threaten prayer: lack of
faith and acedia - a form of depression stemming from lax ascetical practice
that leads to discouragement.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2732) The most common yet most hidden temptation is our
lack of faith. It expresses itself
less by declared incredulity than by our actual preferences. When we begin to
pray, a thousand labors or cares thought to be urgent vie for priority; once
again, it is the moment of truth for the heart: what is its real love?
Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a last resort, but do we really believe he is?
Sometimes we enlist the Lord as an ally, but our heart remains presumptuous. In
each case, our lack of faith reveals that we do not yet share in the disposition
of a humble heart: "Apart from me, you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5).
Reflection
(CCC 2733) Another temptation, to which presumption opens
the gate, is acedia. The spiritual
writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax ascetical practice,
decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart. "The spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt 26:41). The greater the height, the
harder the fall. Painful as discouragement is, it is the reverse of
presumption. The humble are not surprised by their distress; it leads them to
trust more, to hold fast in constancy. [END]
(Next question: How may we strengthen our filial trust?)
Saturday, September 28, 2013
574. What are the difficulties in prayer? (part 1)
574. What are the difficulties in prayer? (part 1)
(Comp 574) Distraction is a habitual
difficulty in our prayer. It takes our attention away from God and can also
reveal what we are attached to. Our heart therefore must humbly turn to the
Lord. Prayer is often affected by dryness. Overcoming this difficulty allows us
to cling to the Lord in faith, even without any feeling of consolation. Acedia
is a form of spiritual laziness due to relaxed vigilance and a lack of custody
of the heart.
“In brief”
(CCC 2754) The principal difficulties in the practice of
prayer are distraction and dryness. The remedy lies in faith, conversion, and
vigilance of heart.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2729) The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction. It can affect words and
their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to whom we
are praying, in vocal prayer (liturgical or personal), meditation, and
contemplative prayer. To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall
into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a
distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness
before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us
resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle, the
choice of which master to serve (Cf. Mt 6:21, 24). (CCC 2730) In positive
terms, the battle against the possessive and dominating self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus
insists on vigilance, he always relates it to himself, to his coming on the
last day and every day: today. The
bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; the light that must not be extinguished
is that of faith: "'Come,' my heart says, 'seek his face!'" (PS
27:8).
Reflection
(CCC 2731) Another difficulty, especially for those who
sincerely want to pray, is dryness.
Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God,
with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones. This
is the moment of sheer faith clinging faithfully to Jesus in his agony and in
his tomb. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone; but if dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24). If dryness is
due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle
requires conversion (Cf. Lk 8:6, 13). [IT CONTINUES]
(The question: What are the difficulties in prayer? continues)
Friday, September 27, 2013
573. Are there objections to prayer?
573. Are there objections to prayer?
(Comp 573) Along with erroneous notions
of prayer, many think they do not have the time to pray or that praying is
useless. Those who pray can be discouraged in the face of difficulties and
apparent lack of success. Humility, trust and perseverance are necessary to overcome
these obstacles.
“In brief”
(CCC 2753) In the battle of prayer we must confront
erroneous conceptions of prayer, various currents of thought, and our own
experience of failure. We must respond with humility, trust, and perseverance
to these temptations which cast doubt on the usefulness or even the possibility
of prayer.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2726) In the battle of prayer, we must face in
ourselves and around us erroneous notions
of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity,
others as an effort of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others
reduce prayer to ritual words and postures. Many Christians unconsciously
regard prayer as an occupation that is incompatible with all the other things
they have to do: they "don't have the time." Those who seek God by
prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer comes also
from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone. (CCC 2727) We must also
face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of "this present world" can penetrate our lives
if we are not vigilant. For example, some would have it that only that is true
which can be verified by reason and science; yet prayer is a mystery that
overflows both our conscious and unconscious lives. Others overly prize
production and profit; thus prayer, being unproductive, is useless. Still
others exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and
the beautiful; whereas prayer, the "love of beauty" (philokalia), is caught up in the glory
of the living and true God. Finally, some see prayer as a flight from the world
in reaction against activism; but in fact, Christian prayer is neither an
escape from reality nor a divorce from life.
Reflection
(CCC 2728) Finally, our battle has to confront what we
experience as failure in prayer:
discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we have
"great possessions" (Cf. Mk 10:22) we have not given all to the Lord;
disappointment over not being heard according to our own will; wounded pride,
stiffened by the indignity that is ours as sinners; our resistance to the idea
that prayer is a free and unmerited gift; and so forth. The conclusion is
always the same: what good does it do to pray? To overcome these obstacles, we
must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.
(Next question: What are the difficulties in prayer?)
Thursday, September 26, 2013
572. Why is prayer a “battle”?
572. Why is prayer a “battle”?
(Comp 572) Prayer is a gift of grace but
it always presupposes a determined response on our part because those who pray
“battle” against themselves, their surroundings, and especially the Tempter who
does all he can to turn them away from prayer. The battle of prayer is
inseparable from progress in the spiritual life. We pray as we live because we
live as we pray.
“In brief”
(CCC 2752) Prayer presupposes an effort, a fight against ourselves
and the wiles of the Tempter. The battle of prayer is inseparable from the
necessary "spiritual battle" to act habitually according to the
Spirit of Christ: we pray as we live, because we live as we pray.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2725) Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined
response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer
of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints,
and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against
ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man
away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live
as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ,
neither can we pray habitually in his name. The "spiritual battle" of
the Christian's new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.
Reflection
(CCC 2612) In Jesus "the Kingdom of God is at
hand" (Mk 1:15). He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but also to
watchfulness. In prayer the disciple
keeps watch, attentive to Him Who Is and Him Who Comes, in memory of his first
coming in the lowliness of the flesh, and in the hope of his second coming in
glory (Cf. Mk 13; Lk 21:34-36). In communion with their Master, the disciples'
prayer is a battle; only by keeping watch in prayer can one avoid falling into
temptation (Cf. Lk 22:40, 46).
(Next question: Are there objections to prayer?)
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