From our Pastor’s Desk

Dear Family:

Jesus tells us to “pray always.” How can anyone pray “always”? At least, we have to sleep or we will become weary. We have to work. We have to eat. How can we “pray always”? The fact that what Jesus says might seem impossible should tell us that He is trying to get us to think differently about what it means to pray, let alone “pray always.”

In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus tells us a parable about a widow who asked the judge to “render a just decision for me against my adversary.” We are told that the judge does not care what others think and does what he wants. The woman continually asks him for a “just decision.” Eventually, because of her persistence, the judge finally gives her what she wants.

Hearing this parable from Jesus, it might seem the lesson is that all we have to do to get what we want in prayer is to keep asking. If we bother God long enough, He will give us what we want. But that assumption is wrong. First of all, we need to consider what the woman was asking for. She does not tell the judge what decision to make. In our prayers we might often tell God how we want him to fix our problems. What the woman asks for is for the judge to “Render a just decision.”

God wants us to bring our problems and sufferings to him in prayer. However, what we need to think about is our goal in bringing our problems to God in prayer. Do we want to change God to get him to do what we want or are we willing to allow God to change us through prayer? For instance, maybe God wants to help us redirect our life around our problems. God does not change us all at once, or at least we generally do not let him. We need to be persistent in prayer to keep coming back to God.

So, there is a little lesson about persistence and openness in prayer. However, so far we have not addressed how it might seem impossible to “pray always.” The first reading speaks of praying always. God had led the Israelites out from Egypt into the desert. They are freed from slavery but life still has its battles. They are under attack. Joshua leads the physical battle, but the point today is not the physical battle itself. They won the physical battle but how? Through prayer. Joshua leads the physical battle, but victory comes through God and the power of prayer.

While the battle goes on, Moses is on the hill. However, he is not just a spectator, he plays a vital role. He is praying. We are not told what words he says in prayer. We are told his posture in prayer. He stands with his hands raised up, the same posture the priest takes at Mass for some of the prayers, including the Eucharistic Prayer. Yet, as the battle continues, Moses becomes “tired”, so he lets his arms down. When he does, the battle shifts and the Israelites begin to lose. Now, the lesson here is perseverance in prayer. However, that does not mean that we need to keep our hands raised up all the time like Moses did during the battle but we are called to keep turning our hearts and soul to God.

Sometimes, like Moses, it might be difficult to keep praying on our own. Moses needed Aaron and Hur to support him in prayer. Sometimes we need the support of others in prayer. Sometimes we are to be the ones supporting others with prayer. God “neither slumbers nor sleeps.” God is available 24/7 to listen and respond to our prayers. Still, what does it mean to pray?

Prayer involves our posture, whether it be holding our hands up like Moses, lifting up our eyes to God as we heard in the psalm, or kneeling in humble surrender. Prayer can include reading the Bible, the “sacred Scriptures” that Paul reminds us is “inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction and for training in righteousness.” Prayer involves words. It might be memorized prayer like the Our Father, the Rosary, The Liturgy of the Hours, or whatever our favorite devotion is. Prayer can also be us telling God what our battles are, what we are struggling with.

This should not be just a list of our demands. However, we pray in words and gestures, prayer is rooted in our hearts and soul. Prayer is ultimately rooted in our relationship with God. To “pray always” is just that, to keep ourselves always rooted in God.

What does it take to keep us rooted in God? One hour a week at Mass is essential but how do we keep ourselves in an attitude of prayer throughout the week? Let’s turn to the life of the monks and nuns at Monasteries and Convents. They pray a lot. The Liturgy of the Hours is the Church’s daily rhythm of prayer, offered up to seven times a day with psalms, hymns, and readings from Scripture. Monks and nuns faithfully pray all seven offices, beginning with Vigils at 3:30 a.m. and concluding with Compline at 7:30 p.m. Throughout the day, they also devote time to Lectio Divina, a prayerful meditation on Scripture that invites the Word of God to speak personally to the heart.

Even the monks and nuns at Monasteries and Convents do not pray in words and gestures all the time. They all have assigned work each morning and afternoon to support the life on the monastery and convent. Still, one might want to say prayer is easy for the monks and nuns since they do not have all the commitments we do for work and family. I do not expect everyone here to pray all seven cycles of the Liturgy of the Hours but maybe we could pray one. Maybe we could spend a few minutes reading the Bible in a prayerful way. Maybe it is praying the Rosary. Maybe it is just stopping occasionally throughout the day to ask God with just a few words to be with you. Maybe it is just having the commitment to a Holy Hour in our Blessed Sacrament Chapel in our Parish. I encourage you to “be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient” in prayer and God will let you know He is with us always.

We are in October, which is also the Month for Respect Life. The Catholic Church in United States has recognized October as such, since 1973. This is another opportunity for us to pray and reflect on the value of each human life. It is also the opportunity to pray for all those innocent babies that did not have the opportunity to be born, and for their mothers and fathers. Just as well, we must pray for those who cannot get pregnant easily and desperately look to have a child; for those who have terminal diseases and for the sick in general; for the kids and teenagers of this community of faith and for their parents; finally, we must pray for ourselves too, to increase our faith and to surrender to the will of God who knows what is best for each of us. Ultimately, let us pray for us to be One Body, One Spirit, One Family!

Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Katharine Drexel, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Michael the Archangel, Pope Saint Pius X, St. Charbel and St. José Gregorio Hernández, pray for us.

Yours in Christ Jesus!
Fr. Omar