Today your Church is celebrating Mission Sunday throughout the world. When is the last time you said a prayer or two for the men and women working in mission lands? Unfortunately, I suspect, the world of communications seems to have diminished our attention and awareness of missionary work even though we are constantly reminded of the unrest that exists in so many far away places.The readings and our need to support missionaries with BOTH our financial assistance and prayers serves, along with the readings to speak about prayer. Not too long ago, a friend called to talk to me about his "miserable" prayer life. Praying made no sense, was so terribly difficult, didn't do him any good, was simply boring and, lastly, just took too much time. Quite a conversation, as you can imagine. So let's look at possible "natural" medicines for these dilemmas.
There are three Ps for prayer that will bring a sure cure to the pains of prayer without having to take any pills. The three Ps are: PERSONAL, PERENNIAL and PERSISTENT. If anyone having difficulty with a prayer life ... and we all truly need a spiritual life ... incorporating the three Ps will quickly bring about the beginning of a new route for the prayer.
Prayer has to be PERSONAL. The constant repetition of formulaic prayers eventually ends up in emptiness and boredom for most people. Prayers like the "Ave" or the "Pater Noster" (just to give you a little Latin!) can become a sure-fire trip to the doldrums. Our minds do not work that way. Imagine if husbands and wives, parents and children only spoke to one another by reciting a memorized paragraph over and over again. Marriages would fall apart, relationships between family members would not exist. There has to be conversation, sharing of our experiences (How was it at work today? How were things here at the house today? or What happened at school today? How are the grandchildren doing? Do you have any homework problems?)
Imagine being God for just a second or two. Might not be hard for some of us ... we sometimes seem to think we are in charge of everything!!! But imagine what life would be like if you were God and all you heard were "Ave" and "Pater Noster" over and over again with nothing else happening. Boring! Boring!
Prayer has to be personal. It has to involve me and my problems. While away I found a good chunk of time each day just to be with God after reciting a part of the Daily Office with the priest I was visiting. It led me into that "just want to be here with God, looking at his beautiful creation. My life had been so busy around the parish since returning from the first part of my vacation that I am afraid I have to say that the good Lord was getting short shrift ... those days of quick hellos. I need your help. Why is this happening now? Where are you leading me today? And then .... off to the next phone call, appointment and meeting. God is the most patient contact I have. No one else would put up with such nonsense. And, like everyone else, I return to the work again, fortified by a battery recharge and hopefully a spiritual tune up. We all need to realize that our prayer has to be personal if it is going to be genuine prayer.
The second P: PERENNIAL. Yep, it has to be that. For prayer to be fruitful and enjoyable, it cannot be seasonal. It isn't a winter or spring experience. Prayer has to happen every day. Even in the very busy world we living in, the very busy world we so often make for ourselves, we have to take some time each day to be personal with the Lord. Did I stop to offer up to God the time to type this reflection and the graces I would enjoy in deciding what to type for your prayers and thinking? Will I remember to thank God when I close out on this posting and go to the church for Sunday Mass? How about throughout the day training yourself to stop when you begin or end an activity or assignment with just a moment or two of prayer ... to sanctify the work at hand? Once in the habit, then prayer will become PERENNIAL.
The third P is like the elderly woman in the gospel: PERSISTENT. If there is one thing that prayer has to be it is PERSISTENT. Maybe God made it that way so that we would continue to throw ourselves upon his love and care each day, many times each day. We all have needs for ourselves, our loved ones, our missionaries, our world, our troops, our government leaders (?), and those who simply need our prayers. These are the nitty-gritty realities of life in our world and the nitty-gritty of coming to God. The story about the woman is for me one of those stories Jesus uses to show his sense of humor. Read the story again and you will understand.
So, you also can say a week's regeneration has filled my mind with many thoughts and have given my typing fingers cramps. My legs may have been doing five miles of walking each day but now my fingers are telling me enough, enough. No so much so fast.
Let's thanks God for the generosity of the men and women who leave their homes, families, cultures to go far and wide to help others. God bless them in their work. Interesting is this: to be a successful missionary, a person has to be PERSONAL, PERENNIAL and PERSISTENT. Interesting thought, isn't it.
God bless you. Let us each day pray for one another. OREMUS PRO INVICEM. Latin again, Let us pray for one another.
