Something More
“Prayer is something more than an exterior act performed out of a sense of duty, an act in which we tell God various things he already knows, a kind of daily attendance in the presence of the Sovereign who awaits, morning and evening, the submission of his subjects. Even though Christians find, to their pain and sorrow, that their prayer never rises above this level, they know well enough that it should be something more.” So begins the book, Prayer, by Fr. Hans Urs Von Balthasar.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
“Prayer is something more than an exterior act performed out of a sense of duty, an act in which we tell God various things he already knows, a kind of daily attendance in the presence of the Sovereign who awaits, morning and evening, the submission of his subjects. Even though Christians find, to their pain and sorrow, that their prayer never rises above this level, they know well enough that it should be something more.” So begins the book, Prayer, by Fr. Hans Urs Von Balthasar.
This
“something more” is today’s topic in our series on prayer. And this “something
more” is simply communion with God, friendship with Him, Person to person. God
actually desires every person, without exception, to have a personal
relationship with Him and in His Body, the Church. Every person is called to be
saved from sin for this communion, this friendship with God. Our Lord Jesus
many times calls us to “abide” in Him (Jn 15:4-10, cf. Jn 6:56) and even prays
that the community of believers, His Body the Church, “may be one, even as You,
Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be us ... that they may be
one even as we are one” (Jn 17:21-22).
This is
God’s desire. And it’s not just for later in Heaven. Heaven starts here and
now.
St. Theresa
of Avila (1515-1582), Doctor of the Church and a profound teacher of prayer,
while recovering from illness as a young nun, had a whole new world of prayer
open up to her while reading a book by Franciscan friar Fr. Francisco de Osuna
(1492-1540) called The Third Spiritual Alphabet. In that book, Fr. Osuna
begins by stating three considerations which appear essential for anyone who
seeks this communion with God:
First,
“Friendship and communion with God are possible in this life and exile, and
that in no small degree, but with a closer and stronger bond than has ever
existed between brethren, or mother and child.... I speak of the communion
sought and found by those who strive to attain to prayer and devotion, than
which nothing in this world is more certain, more delightful, or more
precious.” He speaks of God going out to meet the weary and tired and suffering
“with open arms,” – more even than a mother receiving her little child – “with
greater alacrity and true comfort than the mother whose little one runs to her
for protection. She opens first her arms to her child and then her breasts, and
satisfies his hunger; she presses her face to his and his sobs and tears cease,
for he fears no longer.” If God were not willing to sustain us, Osuna says, why
does He repeatedly admonish us to draw near? God gives graces to all, but to
those who love Him “better than the rest,” Fr. Osuna says, God gives
more and different graces.
Second,
“since God is no respecter of persons, this communion is no less possible for
you ... whoever you may be, than it is for others, for you are no less made in
the image of God than they are, nor do I suppose you have less desire for
happiness.” The greatest human happiness is communion with God. Fr. Osuna says,
“Nothing can deprive you of what is so completely in your power,” excuses won’t
do, frailty won’t do. It is simply a matter of the love of God, and “if you say
you cannot love, we do not believe you.”
Third,
whatever may be the means by which communion with God is sought (and there are
many), a person must have a desire, an impulse of concern, which gives no rest
but urges one to seek God. Recall the man urgently seeking the pearl of great
price, or the woman searching for her lost coin in the Gospel. Fr. Osuna says,
“The fisherman anxiously watches the float to see whether the fish bite, and
thinks of nothing during his sport but what he has caught or will catch. I
believe that no on finds God by whatever means without this intent and watchful
solicitude: it cannot be effected by any means except by seeking Him.”
And Fr.
Osuna’s last word here is: “Seek God in your heart; do not go outside yourself,
for He is nearer to you than yourself.”
Dibby Green
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News on December 5, 2019.Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.