Ignatian prayer


An Ignatian
Prayer....

Lord, teach me to be
generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count
the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek
rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do
your will.


Friday, October 2, 2015

When Prayer is not enough, pray more!

Last night, after the last college shooting in Oregon, many of us listened intently as our President reflected on the state of humanity in our country.  He said that we have become numb, he has become numb, to having to address the nation as we mourn yet another tragedy like this one.  He is correct.  Then he said “our thoughts and prayers are not enough”.   I know what he meant…..it is true that we must follow our prayers with action.  However, I wonder what would happen if he turned that phrase around? What if he said that our thoughts and prayers must increase?  Mr. Obama says he is Christian.  He should understand the power of authentic prayer.
Our Christian faith teaches us that prayer is a relationship.  It is a way of life that helps us to come to know Our Father in a deeper way. It is a listening, a personal and profound time that is spent with our Creator, who calls us to be in relationship with him.  St. Teresa of Avila said “Prayer is nothing else than an intimate friendship, a frequent heart to heart conversation with Him, Who we know loves us.” (Life, viii)
Mr. President, is this kind of prayer not enough?  At times it may seem like it is not enough, but it is not only enough, I propose it is everything! Prayer is the way to change our attitude towards our brothers and sisters.  It opens us to discovering our purpose in life.  This is what our nation needs most of all.
When my son was dying and needed surgery the day he was born, we called in all the experts.  But we first prayed for guidance.  While my son was in surgery we didn’t ask for more doctors, no, we asked our friends for more prayers. I didn't care if those doctors were of another faith denomination beside my own, but I did care that they were believers ad that through prayer we would all be connected.  I felt God's presence when the lead surgeon asked me to pray for him just minutes before he took my son into surgery.  Those seconds, minutes, days, years were spent in prayer. Yes, I also visited many specialists and took very good care of him but it all flowed from the font of my relationship with my heavenly Father, of my awareness that He was leading us to help heal my son. So in my prayer, I listened, I trusted.  I changed. Then I acted. Prayer taught me to love more than I thought possible. Prayer taught me to include everyone in my good thoughts. Prayer led me to love myself better. Prayer led me to the love of Christ.
A great American moral leader during a very horrible time in the middle of the 20th century once said, “A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing, unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of mankind. And when I speak of love I’m not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of John: “Let us love one another, for God is love. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on “Why I Oppose the Vietnam War”)
How do we discover this Love? Sitting at the foot of the cross of Jesus. When we sit at the feet of Jesus and listen, when we stand and follow where Jesus leads, the power the Holy Spirit fills us with everything we need to overcome all things that seek to oppress and destroy us.
Mr. President I ask that you encourage us all to pray with you and with more fervor.  Exhort us to develop an intimate relationship with our Father in heaven.  From this kind of relationship, whether we be Christian, Jewish or Muslim, Hindu, etc., true prayer will lead us to Love. Prayer leads us to an answer on how to deal with these kinds of horrific occurrences and will open us up to an intimacy with our God of peace.

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