by Pope Francis

In one of his homilies, Pope Francis explained that a Christian is a person who has a heart that knows how to pray and knows how to forgive. The Gospel of the day was dedicated to the story of Saint Martha (Luke 10:38-42). The Pope took the Gospel story as the starting point, reminding us that "prayer works miracles" as long as it is not a purely mechanical act.

The very human figures of Saint Martha, from the New Testament, and the Prophet Jonah of the Old, are united by a common incapacity: they did not know (how) to pray. Pope Francis built his homily on this aspect, beginning with the famous scene in the Gospel where Martha asks Jesus, in an almost critical tone, to have her sister to help her do the serving, rather than sitting at His feet listening to Him. Jesus replied, "Mary has chosen the better part." This part, Pope Francis said, is "that of prayer, that of the contemplation of Jesus":

"To the eyes of the sister, this was time lost. It even seemed, perhaps, a bit of a fantasy: gazing upon the Lord as if she was an awestruck child. But who wants that? The Lord: 'This is the better part,' because Mary heard the Lord and prayed with her heart. And the Lord tells us: 'the first task in life is this: prayer.' But not the prayer of words, like a parrot; but the prayer, the heart: gazing on the Lord, hearing the Lord, asking the Lord. We know that prayer works miracles."

And prayer produces a miracle even in the ancient city of Nineveh. Jonah, on God's instructions, had preached the imminent destruction of the city. The city, though, was saved because the inhabitants, believing the prophet, were converted, and from the greatest to the least called upon the divine forgiveness with all their strength. However, even in this story of redemption, the Pope took note of the erroneous attitude of Jonah, who was more disposed to justice without mercy. His attitude was similar to Martha's, inclining to service that excludes interiority:

"And Martha does this. Does what? But she didn't pray! But there are others like this stubborn Jonah, who are the executioners. He went, he prophesied, but in his heart he said: 'But if they deserve it. If they deserve it. If they were asking for it!' He prophesied, but he didn't pray! He didn't ask the Lord to forgive him. Only to beat them. They are executioners, those that believe themselves to be just! And in the end, the book of Jonah continues, it is seen that he was a selfish man, when the Lord saved Nineveh through the prayer of the people, he was angry with the Lord: 'You are always like that. You always forgive!'"

And so, the Pope concluded, prayer that is only a formula, without heart, as well as pessimism or the desire for justice without forgiveness, are the temptations a Christian must always guard against in order to be able to choose "the better part":

"And we ourselves, when we don't pray, what we're doing is closing the door to the Lord. And not praying is this: closing the door to the Lord, so that He can do nothing. On the other hand, prayer, in the face of a problem, a difficult situation, a calamity, is opening the door to the Lord so that He will come. So that He builds things, He knows to arrange things, to reorganize things. This is what praying is: opening the door to the Lord, so that he can do something. But if we close the door, God can do nothing! Let us think on this Mary who has chosen the better part, and makes us see the way, as the door is opened to the Lord."

by Stratford Caldecott

I am more and more drawn to the Psalms, and to reading them slowly. At the heart of the Bible, they reflect the whole of Scripture in the form of prayer to God. Part of the Wisdom Books that divide the Historical Books from the Prophets, they form a vital stage in the movement from the first Covenant to the last, that of Jesus.

The Pentateuch or five Books of Moses open the Bible with the first Covenant - the creation itself, then Noah, Abraham, Moses. Then the Historical Books trace the Covenant through David and his descendants, through the emergence of Israel. Then the Wisdom Books reveal the meaning, the inner meaning, of this unfolding Covenant, to the individual soul as well as the People of God. The Book of Job flattens the soul on its face before
God, preparing it for prayer. The Psalms are the outpouring of this prayer, of the Holy Spirit at work in his People.

What needs to be understood, and what makes the Psalms so interesting, is that they are not assembled at random. One leads to another, each prepares for the next, balancing or fulfilling it. These are the prayers of Israel, and the prayers of Jesus - the prayers Jesus learned and lived. No wonder they begin with a Beatitude (Blessed is the man...), since they prepare the way for the teaching of Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount, and as a whole they form a portrait of the spiritual man, the man seeking his own end in the glory of God. They encompass the teaching of the First Temple, renewed by Jesus.

We also need to understand the "code". The enemies of Israel against which so many of the Psalms are directed are the sins, the forces of evil, that assail the soul. Or at least, that is how we must read them if we are treating them as prayers. And remember that we are reading in translation, which means we lose the nuances and associations that would have been apparent to early readers.

The poetry of the Psalms relies on a simple technique (parallelism or anaphora) that is nonetheless very profound in its implications - the juxtaposition of two, or sometimes three, distinct metaphors or ideas to converge on the same idea from different angles (Praise the Lord, all you nations./ Extol him, all you peoples). This gives us a deeper and richer appreciation of what is being said - it is like the way we use bifocal vision to see in depth. The Book of Genesis gives us two distinct descriptions of the creation event for a similar reason, and the Gospels give us four rather than two accounts of the life of Jesus.

One way to read the Psalms meditatively is by going one at a time through the entire Book.

by James MacDonald

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." And he said to them, "When you pray . . . "
(Luke 11:1–2, ESV).

Roughly 60 percent of Americans claim they pray daily. Another nearly 20 percent claim to pray weekly. Those stats suggest a significant amount of praying is going on. Yet there is also evidence that what we call "prayer" doesn't fit God's definition or expectations.

Dig a little deeper and we find that many are going through the motions, and feel frustrated about prayer even as they try to practice it. Some people "pray" without actually addressing God. Many who do voice their prayers are talking to someone they don't even know. To them, God is a complete stranger they might turn to for help if things get bad enough. How sad and empty prayer must feel for so many - including many of us.

As we develop the core disciplines of a sincere faith, we must include work on prayer. Even those of us who have grown up around praying people, need instruction. And who better to learn from than Jesus Christ . . .

The twelve disciples spent three years hanging out with Jesus. They watched Him, traveled with Him, listened to Him. Even though He was a Master Teacher, there is no record they ever asked Him, "Lord, teach us to teach." And not once did they say, "Lord, teach us how to do miracles," though we know He worked awesome wonders. As far as we know, the disciples' only request for instruction was, "Lord, teach us to pray."

With a front-row seat to the life of Christ, what truly captured the disciples' attention was the way He prayed. Jesus had a habit of retreating from the demanding crowds and spending time alone in conversation with His Father, as seen in Mark 1:35. "And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed." Exposed to the Lord 24/7, the disciples concluded, "The thing we've got to figure out is prayer. Jesus has that going on!"

It's not surprising that the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, eternally in perfect communion with the Father, made prayer a priority. Jesus responded to the disciples by introducing what we now call The Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:2–4, Matthew 6:9–13).

Let's camp today on the disciples' request. They not only went to the right instructor, they also went with the right intent. This was more than a "how-to" request; it was a "give-us-the-desire-to-pray" petition. After noticing the pattern of prayer in Jesus' life, they longed to see it replicated in their own lives. They saw Him slip out of the house to pray in the early morning, while they rolled over for a little more sleep. They watched Him pause to thank His Father at various times and draw attention to the bigger picture (John 11:41–42).

Before He even gave them the pattern of The Lord's Prayer, Jesus graciously encouraged them with the words, "When you pray." Not "if you pray" but "when you pray" - Jesus expected the disciples to pray. Driven by circumstances or as a spiritual discipline, He knew His own would turn to the Father in prayer.

They needed that expectation as much as we do. Our failure to pray rarely rises from lack of technique or subject matter. Often we fail at prayer simply because we don't keep at it. We try to pray and quickly give up - yet prayer is the breathing of our spiritual life. Just as we can't afford to stop pulling air into our lungs, so we also can't survive spiritually without the healthy respirations of prayer.

When the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray," that simple request was in and of itself praying. Make it your persistent prayer for a few days. Ask Him out loud. If a specific direction or thought doesn't come to mind, read and reflect on The Lord's Prayer. Spin off from certain verses of Jesus' prayer, and expound with your own words.

By giving us a model, Jesus wasn't inviting rote repetition; He was offering a healthy pattern. Just as He taught His disciples, so He is willing to teach us all things (John 14:26) - including how to pray.

Journal

Give your prayer life a realistic check-up (or autopsy). What's the status?

What would a significant step forward in the spiritual discipline of prayer look like in your life?

Pray

Lord, teach me to pray. When I open my eyes in the morning, teach me to pray, when my head rests on the pillow at night - teach me to pray. When troubles, successes, sadness, and joy come my way, or when I fear, teach me to pray. When I am calm and resolved, when I plan and when I fail, and when I consider how very little time I have left on this earth, O Lord, teach me to pray. In Jesus' name always, amen.

by Msgr. Charles Pope

I, perhaps like you, have to see folks I love and care about through some difficult periods in their life. One neighbor and parishioner just lost her eight year old daughter to cancer. A number of parishioners are seeking work and praying daily for it, but no work offers seem forth-coming. Still others cry out for the alleviation of any number of different crosses. I too have lots of things for which I pray, and sometimes I get discouraged or even angry when God seems to say, "no" or, "wait."

One thing I have surely learned about true prayer, and that it is, I have to be humble, very humble. The Scriptures say, we do not know how to pray as we ought (Romans 8:26). Many other translations of this text say even more emphatically: We do not know what we ought to pray for. Yes, it is true, and yet we are often so sure of what is best for us, or best for others. But what we find the desirable outcome is not necessarily the best outcome. And this insight requires of us great humility. We see so little and understand even less. When we ask for some outcome, and it is not wrong to do so, we need to ask humbly. God alone knows the best answer and when to answer. This is humility.

There is an old teaching that basically goes: Many think of prayer as trying to get God to do your will. But true prayer is trying to understand what God's will is and do it. I heard an African American preacher put it this way:

You got a lotta people that talk about naming and claiming, and calling and hauling…But there's just something about saying, "THY will be done!" that we've forgot.

It's not wrong to ask. The Book of James says, You have not because you ask not (James 4:2). But we do need to ask with great humility because, truth be told, we don't really know what is best. James and John came to Jesus one day seeking high positions in the new administration (Kingdom). Jesus said to them, You don't know what you are asking (Mk 10:38). And the truth is, we don't.

So ask, but ask humbly.

St. Augustine writes beautifully on this matter in his letter to Proba:

Paul himself was not exempt from such ignorance….To prevent him from becoming puffed-up over the greatness of the revelations that had been given to him, he was given….a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, he asked the Lord three times to take it away from him…..even such a great saint's prayer had to be refused: My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.
(2 Cor 12:9)

So when we are suffering afflictions that might be doing us either good or harm, [we ought to remember that] we do not to know how to pray as we ought. [B]ecause they are hard to endure and painful, because they are contrary to our nature (which is weak) we, like all mankind, pray to have our afflictions taken from us. [But], we owe this much respect to the Lord our God, that if he does not take our afflictions away, we should not consider ourselves ignored and neglected. But [rather, we] should hope to gain some greater good through the patient acceptance of suffering. For my power is at its best in weakness.

These words are written so that we should not be proud of ourselves…. when we ask for something it would be better for us not to get; and also that we should not become utterly dejected if we are not given what we ask for, despairing of God's mercy towards us. [I]t might be that what we have been asking for could have brought us some still greater affliction, or it could completely ruin us through the corrupting influence of prosperity. In such cases, it is clear that we cannot know how to pray as we ought.

Hence if anything happens contrary to our prayer [request], we ought to bear the disappointment patiently, give thanks to God, and be sure that it was better for God's will to be done than our own.

The Mediator himself has given us an example of this. When he had prayed, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by, he transformed the human will that was in him because he had assumed human nature and added: Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it. Thus, truly, By the obedience of one man many have been made righteous.
(St Augustine Letter to Proba (Ep 130 14.25ff)

by Leslie Vernick

I was scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Pittsburg this week to do a television show. On a good day it takes me about 80 minutes to drive to the Philadelphia airport from my house. Snow flurries were forecast for Tuesday but they weren't supposed to last. But they did and got heavier and heavier as the morning wore on.

I began to worry. I have a disease my children have dubbed, "Worst Case Scenario Disease." Perhaps you have it too. My mind began imagining the worst things that might happen while I was driving to the airport in the snow. For example, I might miss my plane or it would be cancelled and I wouldn't be able to get to the television show. Or, I might get in a terrible accident and never make my plane. Or, the plane would crash because the wings got icy. Crazy, I know, but I'm just being real.

But the good news is, I have learned how to get myself out of such emotional quicksand and I want to teach you how too. It's called the prayer of surrender.

We all have many desires – good and legitimate desires, nothing God would disapprove of. But what starts to happen to us when our desires get delayed, frustrated or denied?

My desire in that moment was to get to the airport, make my plane and fulfill my responsibilities to be on that television show. Perhaps your desire is to have a stress free Christmas, a nice family dinner, a spouse that loves you, children who obey you, and a paycheck that supports your financial obligations.

There is nothing wrong with your desires. But when our desires start to become demands our anxious, angry, or discouraged countenance tells us we're slipping into dangerous territory. In those moments we don't believe God is enough. We want (demand) more than he's provided. We're bowing down to an idol (what we MUST have) that is now RULING us instead of Christ.

Typically human desires cluster around three main themes. Power and control, affirmation, approval, & appreciation, and security and comfort.

Power and Control

Once we recognize that our legitimate desires have grown into idols, we have a choice - to cling to what we want or to trust God and surrender.

The prayer of surrender goes like this:

Lord, I want to get to the airport on time and meet my obligations. I'm aware that my body is tense and my heart is gripped with worry (anger, hurt, or whatever emotion you are experiencing in the moment) that I'm not going to get what I want.

Right now I surrender my desire for control over this situation. I cannot control the weather, how fast the traffic moves, or whether or not I get to the airport or the plane is cancelled. I surrender my desire for power over these things to you.

I surrender my desire for affirmation and approval. I want to keep all my obligations and meet my responsibilities. I want people to like me and approve of my work. I let go of my desire for these things. I choose to trust you for my value and worth.

I surrender my desire for security and comfort. I don't know what will happen during this snowstorm but I trust you love me and are in control.

Let us learn from Mary, the mother of God, who surrendered her desire for control when she said to the angel, how can this be? She surrendered her desire for affirmation and approval when she let go of what Joseph and her mother and father would think of her when they found out she was pregnant. And she surrendered her desire for security and comfort when she trusted God with her life, her body, her future, and her family.

My gift to you is this prayer. My challenge to you is that you practice it, particularly during this season. Let go of the demand to have power and control, approval, appreciation and affirmation and security and comfort. Then notice what happens. The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will come to guard your heart and mind in Christ.