PRAYER AND RELATIONSHIP

by Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS

What is prayer? “Talking to God,” many would answer, and that indeed is one description of prayer. But it is not all of prayer. Traditionally, we were taught that “Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God” -- a description which continues to be given by The Catechism of the Catholic Church in #2559. Lifting up our minds and hearts to God can indeed involve talking, but it can also be done without words. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, gives us a description of this second wordless type of prayer. She is quoted in the Catechism #2558, as saying:

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.

“A surge of the heart … a simple look toward heaven …” Little Thérèse, who died at the early age of 24, already had such a close relationship with God that no words were necessary. Her heart surged toward her Beloved, and she was united with Him. In the midst of the ordinary duties of her day, she cast “a simple look toward heaven,” and she knew that she was praying. This called forth from her “a cry of recognition and of love” that was all-embracing – that caught up into itself “both trial and joy.”

The Catechism gives us many descriptions of prayer but the most basic, given in its introductory paragraph to the section on Christian Prayer (#2558), is that prayer is a relationship. “Great is the mystery of the faith” the paragraph begins, then goes on to say that we, the faithful, are required to believe in this mystery of faith, to celebrate it, and from it, to live in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. And, the final sentence in the paragraph says, “this relationship is prayer.”

How do I establish a relationship with others? I meet them, get to know them casually, discover that with some, I have a lot in common. We begin to share more deeply, and if the sharing leads to a “deep and vital relationship,” then indeed, in our communications, words often become unnecessary. Yet the wordless communication is often much more profound than that which takes place in superficial chatter.

Vital and personal relationship with the living God is prayer. How do I enter into a vital and personal relationship with God? I have to get to know Him personally, and this certainly involves talking to Him. But it also involves listening to Him. Do I sometimes simply sit with Him and listen? In his Gospel, Mark tells us that, when Jesus called his apostles, he summoned those “he himself had decided on, who came and joined him. He named twelve as his companions whom he would send to preach the good news; they were likewise to have authority to expel demons” (Mark 3:13-15).

Because of my baptism, I am one of those whom “he himself has decided on” -- I am called to be his companion. Do I sometimes just spend time in his company, not overwhelming him – or myself – with words, not worrying, just simply “being with” him? If so, then my subsequent preaching of the Good News - through my words, my life, my good works - will be permeated with his presence and so I will project him and not me. And truly, today our world needs him.

Resolve to spend a little time each day just “being with” Jesus. Reflect on Mark 3: 13-15. How does this text apply to me?