Prayer -- Why Bother?

I am human—a fallen human being. I have to work; I get tired. I can only focus on one thing at a time. When at work, I must focus on work. That is what I am being paid for. I get off work, and go home to my family. Family requires time also. When I am tired, either I will forget either forget to pray or will not feel like praying. God understands—right?

Given time to contemplate upon the matter, I ask myself, “Do I neglect prayer because what I truly believe is: ‘What is the use? What is going to happen is going to happen; God is in control’.” Many times, prayer is neglected to presumptuousness. When all things are taken into consideration: Neglect of prayer is due to a lack of faith. Many times I treat God as if He is a far-away God—a very-far-off-God. It is meaningful to listen to the psalmist in Psalm 139: “LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”

God is a near God – a very-near-God. He is next to us to help us, guide us. My neglect of prayer speaks loudly to whether I truly believe this. I must keep in the foremost of my mind that my salvation is of great importance to God and everything goes to my salvation. This applies to every individual. The times I feel too tired to pray or just do not feel like praying are the times I really need to pray. These are times when I am prone to drift, when my salvation is not of utmost importance to me. My mind goes back just prior to the time Jesus went to His disciples, walking on the sea. “And straightway he constrained (urged irresistibly or powerfully; compelled; forced; restrained; confined; bound; imprisoned; necessitated) his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he himself sendeth the multitude away; and, after he had taken leave of them, he departed into the mountain to pray.”

He knew the conditions into which He was sending, yet He did not go with them, but departed into the mountain to pray. I wonder, what did He pray about? Did He pray for Himself? I do not think so. What was important to Him? The redemption of mankind, including the salvation of His disciples. This trial was important for their salvation--and for ours. He rebuked them, “Ye of little faith.”

Many times when I pray, I pray for a good day at work, that I glorify God by words and deeds. I neglect to recall that the events that will confront me will be there because it is God’s will that I be confronted with them. They go to love of God and also to love of neighbor. My prayers in the morning need to go towards preparation to these events, praying the grace to confront them in faith. Prayers in the evening should be with thanksgiving if the trials were passed and with confession when I fail.

Everything goes towards salvation, loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves. T.T.

Do I Love God's Commandments, or Are They Often Just a Hindrance?

Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments (Psa 112:1 RV). The question that bores itself to the core of my heart is: Do I continuously delight greatly in the commandments of God, or are they often a hindrance to my desires? The Psalms hammer it home that I must delight in the laws of God. Common sense tells me that I must love the commandments of God. If I do not, there can be no love of God. Dislike of the commandments of God necessitates a dislike/hatred of the author of the commandments—God. There is no way that I can say I love God but disagree with His commandments. If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments (Joh 14:15 RV). If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love (Joh 15:10 RV). That puts it pretty succinctly. If I attempt to obey God’s commandments when there is no love in the commandments, in essence I am trying to earn salvation; it is a work entirely of my strength. This is why the Son was killed.

Now that I know that I must love the commandments of God, I have to do some honest examination of myself, examining myself to find out whether I truly love God’s commandments or whether I really consider them to be a hindrance to my true desires. At first blush, I am tempted to acknowledge them a hindrance. When I first read/hear His commandment, my first reaction is resistance. On the heel of the initial reaction of resistance is the emotion of fear.

Although, many times, I am tempted to ignore this and sweep it underneath the proverbial rug, I must not; I must face the cold, hard facts. I know that God’s laws are good, framed out of all that is Love. This brings me to prayer, confessing that I do not always love His commandments and asking for the grace to love them. Then comes the consolation of Romans: For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good. So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not.

For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise. But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin (Rom 7:14-25 RV).  T.T.

This theological reflection courtesy of the parishioners of St Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola, Florida: stpaulcatholic.net

Walk in The Manner of Christians

This is based upon Mathete's epistle to Diognetus. It makes me to pause, take a step back, and look at myself, questioning: Is this me? Many times I get caught up with this world, the things of daily life, that I do not see this as being me. It has a way of getting me "back on track."

"The Manner of Christians"

They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

To sum up all in one word— what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though in nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians likewise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible [bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul, when but ill-provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake."

During this blessed season of the Octave of Christmas, may we recall why Christ came and, by His grace, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, walk in the "manner of Christians." T.T,

Take the Boring out of Life this Epiphany!

I went for a walk in the ball park behind our parish office. I looked up at the sky and lo, I beheld a magnificent cloud formation that was almost exactly the same color as the sky behind it - gray/blue. One had to look at it for a second to see the breadth of the clouds. It struck me that many people might not appreciate that particular cloud formation and just see it as a harbinger of bad weather, or as just a "blah" color and an uninspiring sight. How often do people forget to really look at nature and see it for what it really is? How often do we listen to nature with discerning ears? How often to we see and hear each other in life? How often to we truly see and hear music for what it is, furthermore, God? Is God at all like our own mental picture - is music - is nature - are we? Do we treat each other, music, nature, and God as they should be treated - as they truly are? I hypothesize that for all of us, the answer, to some degree, is "no".
A friend and I were talking a while back and reflecting upon the idea that one must listen in life to listen in music. I would expound upon this to say that this is true in almost everything. Why do some people consider certain things to be boring? Is anything under this great vault of sky and beyond truly boring? When one sees that even the smallest imperceptible creatures and building blocks of life pulsate with a subtle animation - with the "fire" of what we call life - how can one not be interested in even the very least of these things?

Nature is exceedingly complex, yet so often we would find just observing it to be boring. This translates into music as well. Great classical works, full energy and forged with mental fire, are often shunned by the populous as "boring old music for boring old people". Even many "indie" groups which sometimes contain a similar level of nuance and complexity are "indie" for this very reason. As a culture, we do not see or listen. Perhaps this is because we are removed more and more from nature? I would not feel comfortable guessing too much, but suffice to say that we miss a lot of things that take more than one glance to understand and dismiss them as boring.

Prose, music, painting, even each other - are these boring? Appreciate a microbe and begin to see a bird and hear its song. Appreciate a bird's song and begin to understand a melody and dimly understand a symphony. Begin to appreciate all things under the sun and perhaps begin to see and hear the eternal underpinnings of being and existence - the vibrations behind all things. See these things and nothing would be boring. Do not be overwhelmed by complexity. Hear the still, small, and omnipresent voice of God just as the Magi did at the end of their long journey to find what seemed to be just an ordinary, dare I say boring family with an infant child, who grew to become the reason for all we do - the Eternal One whose glory is in even the simplest and smallest nuance. Happy Epiphany. C.P.

Am I, or Was I, Changed by the Christmas Season?

Christmas Day has come and gone; New Year’s Day has come and gone. This is still the Christmas season. We know it is when Jesus, the Son of God, born of the Blessed Virgin, was born to redeem us. But does this really impact me? Does it really bring joy? Everything is getting back to routine. Nothing has really changed. But it should have. Hence, I went searching the Church Fathers, and I found a sermon by St. Leo the Great.

St. Leo said, “Our Savior, dearly-beloved, was born today: Let us be glad, for there is no proper place for sadness when we keep the birthday of Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity.” What is “life”? I don’t mean the condition of living, but what is true life, the life that Christ brings? So often in the past, I tried to be “spiritual.” I put a lot of work into it. The usual result was: pride. I think back to my Baptism. There was no noticeable change at Baptism, but it was at that time that “life” began.

Life has no connection with death. The ante-Nicene Fathers knew this. Listen carefully to St. Leo, “…the birthday of Life, which destroys the fear of mortality” (emphasis added). It was for this reason that many of them readily accepted martyrdom. They realized that, because of the Nativity, “the Son of God…has taken on Him the nature of man, thereby to reconcile it to its Author: in order that the inventor of death, the devil, might be conquered through that (nature) which he had conquered.” Today, many just want to go to heaven. They believe that if they live a “good” life – in their eyes – they will go to heaven. Others believe that they will go to heaven because they believe in Jesus. We often forget that Satan knows Jesus better than we do. Some believe they will go to heaven because they have been baptized. Judas was baptized also.

Before we can grasp what life truly is, we must understand death and dying. Dying is reality to us. When we exited our mothers’ wombs, we began dying. It is all we know. Webster defines dying: “losing life; perishing; expiring; fading away; languishing; mortal; destined to death – as dying bodies.” Death was brought on in the Garden by Satan, through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Death and dying brought on greed, envy, covetousness, lying, murder, rape, etc. Death brought on everything that is contrary to life: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revelings, and such like.

I do not know, but it is also possible that ownership is a result of death and dying. St. Chrysostom preached against ownership. He said that, prior to the Fall, there was no ownership. We know that ownership does not bring contentment; it only makes us to want to own more. We know this, yet we desire that our children have more than we. We want them to have “good” careers, careers that earn much money. I am not being critical; I just want us to realize that this is not life but death. There are many doctors in the mission field. Many of the saints worked in hospitals, not for “good” careers but because of life. Many lawyers work pro bono – because they seek justice. I have a good job. I must answer for what I do with my money. That is terrifying to me. May God have mercy on me! Do I need the things I own? Would something of lesser value have been sufficient in order that I could have given more? Fear is also a factor. I might need that money in the future. Emergencies do occur. All of this is a result of death and dying, not life.

Jesus’ nativity destroys the fear of mortality. At His first Advent, He came to save, not to condemn. At His Passion and Resurrection, He conquered death and dying. Yes, we remain in mortal, dying bodies; but, nevertheless, we are not dying. The mortal body is dying, yet we are growing, living. St. Leo said: “There is for all one common measure of joy because as our Lord the destroyer of sin and death finds none free from charge, so is He come to free us all. Let the saint exult in that he draws near to victory. Let the sinner be glad in that he is invited to pardon.”

Life is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance. You will recognize these as the fruit of the Spirit. Christ brings us this as a result of His nativity. St. Leo concluded his sermon: “Let us then, dearly beloved, give thanks to God the Father, through His Son, in the Holy Spirit, Who for His great mercy, wherewith He has loved us, has had pity on us: and when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together in Christ, that we might be in Him a new creation and a new production. Let us put off then the old man with his deeds: and having obtained a share in the birth of Christ let us renounce the works of the flesh. Christian, acknowledge your dignity, and becoming a partner in the Divine nature, refuse to return to the old baseness by degenerate conduct. Remember the Head and the Body of which you are a member. Recollect that you were rescued from the power of darkness and brought out into God's light and kingdom. By the mystery of Baptism you were made the temple of the Holy Ghost: do not put such a denizen to flight from you by base acts, and subject yourself once more to the devil's thralldom: because your purchase money is the blood of Christ, because He shall judge you in truth Who ransomed you in mercy, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigns forever and ever. Amen.”  T.T.

In The Fullness of Time

I do not know if this phrase really caught anyone else’s eye, but it did mine. The question came to mind: Why did the apostle, St Paul, write this phrase (Galatians 4:4-5)? All the commentators rightly stated that this means “at the time appointed by God.” This is absolutely true, but why, still, was this the fullness of time? What made it the fullness of time?

One of the early church fathers – I do not recall who – stated that, after the Fall, mankind became progressively worse in their wickedness, that we do not become better because of sin, but worse. Therefore, I believe God was not waiting for mankind to become better, to a point where they were ready to “accept” Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior, but He had something else in mind.

It is reported that at the time of the Incarnation and Nativity that there was “peace” in the world. This would only mean that there was no war, for there was no love between the Jews and the Romans. Roman soldiers were posted throughout the Roman Empire to “keep the peace.” Hence, this “peace” was not a peace of good will toward one’s fellow man. The Jews, we know, hated the Romans. Perhaps, trusting that the church father is correct, this was the fullness of time because the wickedness of mankind had become full, complete, just as when God told Abraham regarding the Amorites, “In the fourth generation, your descendants will return here, for the wickedness of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Ge 15.16).

Mathetes, an ante-Nicene Church Father, in his epistle to Diognetus, wrote:

“As long then as the former time endured, He permitted us to be borne along by unruly impulses, being drawn away by the desire of pleasure and various lusts. This was not that He at all delighted in our sins, but that He simply endured them; nor that He approved the time of working iniquity which then was, but that He sought to form a mind conscious of righteousness, so that being convinced in that time of our unworthiness of attaining life through our own works, it should now, through the kindness of God, be vouchsafed to us; and having made it manifest that in ourselves we were unable to enter into the kingdom of God, we might through the power of God be made able. But when our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, was impending over us; and when the time had come which God had before appointed for manifesting His own kindness and power, how the one love of God, through exceeding regard for men, did not regard us with hatred, nor thrust us away, nor remember our iniquity against us, but showed great long-suffering, and bore with us, He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! That the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Saviour who is able to save even those things which it was [formerly] impossible to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counselor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious concerning clothing and food.”

Henceforth, it was then, at that time, the fullness of time. It was also the "fullness of time" at our Baptism. Our sins were full, and we feared the consequences. The "angel" came to us in the time of darkness, saying, "A child is born--the Savior! He is born of the Virgin;; He is persecuted by Pontius Pilate; He is crucified; and He is risen, after having been dead and buried for three days, and He has ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father!"

We are now awaiting the “fullness of time” when Christ returns, a time when the wickedness of mankind will have become full again. This time, however, Christ must return as Judge, for He has already been manifested as the God-Man, the Savior, and He is now here in His Body, the Church.  T.T.

How to Recognize Jesus in the in the hum-drum of everyday life

Saturday 12.29.2012
Lk 2: 22-35

Today didn't start off special, really. It was required by the Law of Moses that a woman had to be purified after giving birth. For the birth of a male child, this was to take place 33 days after the boy's circumcision. So Mary, with Joseph and Jesus, went to the temple to offer the prescribed sacrifice, and complete the ritual. It was also the Law that every male that opens the womb be consecrated to the Lord, and so Jesus was to be presented, and consecrated. Nothing out of the ordinary, really…this was a good Jewish family devoutly following the Law of Moses like every good Jewish family was expected to do.

But we all know that this wasn't the typical Jewish family. The child Jesus was conceived in the womb of an immaculate virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph had taken her as his wife because of an angel's message, and the infant Jesus' birth was announced to shepherds by a whole host of angels.

Yet here they were, fulfilling the law in humility and poverty, just like everybody else. Who would have ever known…who could have even guessed…that disguised in this ordinary act was the Messiah, the Savior of the world?

Simeon is simply described as a man who" was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him." He had been given a revelation that he would not die before seeing the Christ. Simeon was old, and who knows how long it had been since the revelation? But he waited; he prayed and he sacrificed and he fasted…and he waited. He believed God, that he would send the Messiah, and that Simeon would live to see it. But this poor couple? This tiny baby? Today? How did he know? Simeon knew because he trusted God. He prayed, and he sacrificed, and he fasted…and after who knows how long, he was rewarded. He was able to recognize the Savior of the world disguised in this little baby carried in the arms of this young mother and father, in this everyday circumstance on this particular day.

What about us? Do we trust God? Are we praying, and sacrificing, and fasting? If we are not, will we be able to recognize the Savior of the world as he comes into our lives disguised in the hum-drum of everyday life; in the humility and poverty of people we pass in the street?  Pray, and sacrifice, and fast, and trust, and he will reward us just as surely as Simeon.  --BW