On Prayer

     This past Tuesday evening, about 10 of my friends got together and had a bible study focused on prayer. Now I know what you are thinking; we met at a central location and opened our bibles like a normal bible study? Not this group! It ended a little before midnight, and everyone could jump into their beds if not already on them since we did it on a Video conference through skype, each one at the comfort of their home.  Seeing this, I know Sts. Peter and Paul are probably asking the Lord in Heaven why they couldn't have lived in a time with that kind of technology for they could have reached millions with the Gospel? Well atleast, I am sure St. Peter might ask that.  Beside the details sorrounding this bible study, my purpose is to explore this topic of prayer for since then, I have been in 3 more meetings and the focus was prayer which tells me maybe the Lord want me to share my humble reflections on it. Lets take the journey together.
     Like any journey, you must have a map and a destination. Having this in mind, I wish for us to accomplish 3 goals on prayer; The What, The Why, and The How of prayer.
Why?
   I have decided to start with this question since if we don't know why we should do something, we will do it half heartedly or not at all. Another reason is to make sure that I don't waste your time, for after this, if you can't answer that question, it serves you no purpose to read any further.
   My memory is still vivid when about 5 years ago, I sat with my newly found spiritual director, a Benedictine monk who had been recommended to me by a priest as a suitable spiritual guide.  I was in a place in my spiritual journey where my faith had been revived with great vigor and I was seeking direction on how to recognize, listen and do God's will, whom I was seeking to please above all. I was narrating my dissapointments, my aspirations and even my desparations, seeking great advice from someone I sensed to be very wise in spiritual matters. After my narration, I waited patiently to hear the words that would change my life. Well to say the least, I was dissapointed when after hesitating for about a minute, instead of giving me advice, he just asked me a question; how is your prayer life? After answering, he went ahead to explain to me how everything good I seeked could only be found in God, and prayer is the intangible access to Him.  Five years later, I am still contemplating and unpacking the truths confined in that simple statement.  This was confirmed  by the Master himself (Jesus) in the Gospel of St.Matthew 7:7 when he told his followers, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."  If you ask me why we should pray, I would say that if you seek anything that is good, you not only should pray, you must pray for God is the source and summit of all that is good, and He has promised that whatever we ask in the name of His Son, he would give it to us. 
       Well is it as simple as that? the answer is Yes, but let me let you in on something further I have learned.  In the book of Psalms, we see King David complaining to God that those who were neither seeeking nor loving Him seemed to be enjoying great proseperity.  I have asked this question myself on why those who seem not to pray still enjoy good things.  Simply put, God in His generosity has seen it fit to "let the rain fall on the good and evil as well," but like we hear in the book of James 4:3, "you ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."  With this in mind, I have realised that the separation of generosity of God's gift comes when we know what to ask for. One thing for sure, God will never give us holiness without us asking for it. Sure He will grant us the grace to know to aspire for it and seek it for if He doesn't give us that, we won't be able to even take the first step, but to move forward and persevere, He will not grant to those who do not seek. With this in mind, we should therefore ask The Father to grant us the grace to become what our Lord commanded us to be; "Perfect as your Father in Heaven is Perfect." (Matthew 5:48).  For those ambitious type in the spiritual matters, this should be the greatest reason to pray: to become Holy, for as St. Paul tells us to strive for "holiness without which no one will see the Lord," (Hebrews 12:14) and which without prayer is simply impossible. You will never meet a saint who didn't pray. 
      I can write a thousand pages on why we should pray, but from this, any person of reason should be convinced of the neccesity of prayer. This is only a start, but let us move forward to our next question

   What?
   During our bible study, this question of what prayer is was brought up and the various answers that were given all seemed to have a common denominator of "it is communication with God." Indeed, prayer in the simplest of terms is a conversation with God.  A more official defination according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church is that"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."  (CCC 2559)
   We see two ways that prayer is expressed throughout salvation history.  The two arms of prayer are public prayer and private prayers, since "there are two sides to our nature, the individual as well as the social". Public prayer simply put is the prayer we pray collectively as the body of Christ.  This could be during the Liturgy where the one sacrifice of the Son of God and the prayers of his bride the Church are raised to the Eternal Father. It could also include any prayers offered to God with another as Jesus said "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) .  Private prayers would then include those prayers which we pray alone in following the words of the Master that  "when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you" (Matthew 6:6) 
    I wish to explore private prayers since many of us can go to Church on Sundays, but it's in the daily prayers where we find ourselves struggling the most and without which, the Sunday Worship "would degenrate into empty ceremony" (Frank Duff).
In this context, we find the 3 expressions of prayer; Vocal prayer, Meditation and Contemplation
2722 Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples. 2723 Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life. 2724 Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.
    These three expressions of prayer as explained in the catechism goes to explain and summarize what prayer is by exploring how we enter into that presence of God either using vocal prayer, meditation or finally when God draws us to himself through contemplation. 
   Without further ado, let us move on since we can spend an eternity talking about what prayer is and looking at all the different ways and types of prayer.

How?
  This is the simplest of the questions and one that I will go over quickly. If you ask me how you ought to pray, I would give you the advice of the apostle Paul "pray without ceasing." That is how we ought to pray. But I know that it is not that simple so let us explore further.  When the Lord was asked that question directly, he gave us that great prayer of "Our Father" (Matthew 6:9) Indeed, this is one of the most efficacious of all Christian prayers, and in it contains all the qualities of what prayer should be. From the Praise and acknowledgement of God's sovereignty, to the petition, there lies the great wisdom of God himself on how we ought to pray.  Whether it's formal prayers like "the Our Father" or the rosary which is a meditation on the life of Christ through the eyes of His mother, and any other prayers which are handed to us, or whether it is sponteneous prayers that comes from us, we should make sure "they have in common the recollection of the heart."
     This indeed is how we ought to pray. By following the "three principal parables on prayer as transmitted to us by St. Luke:
"The first, "the importunate friend," (Lk 11:5-13)  invites us to urgent prayer: "Knock, and it will be opened to you." To the one who prays like this, the heavenly Father will "give whatever he needs," and above all the Holy Spirit who contains all gifts.
- The second, "the importunate widow," (Lk 18:1-8) is centered on one of the qualities of prayer: it is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with the patience of faith. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" - The third parable, "the Pharisee and the tax collector," (Lk 18:9-14)  concerns the humility of the heart that prays. "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" The Church continues to make this prayer its own: Kyrie eleison! " (CCC 2613)
      With such great wisdom, my formula is to simply approach God constantly with contrition for our sins, humility of heart and unwavering confidence in His goodness.
        Having come to this point where I knew why I should pray, what prayer was and how I ought to pray, I came seeking advice from my spiritual director frustrated that despite my knowledge on the necessity of prayer, I was finding myself not being consistent. Waiting for advice, he asked me, where do you put your shoes? Again dissapointed, I told him like everyone else, I put them on the shoe rack or wherever my hands lets them go. He went ahead to tell me, "why don't you put them under the bed." Seeing the puzzled expression on my face, he explained to me that by putting them under the bed, every morning when I bent down to get them, I would remember to kneel and say my prayers before my day started. Again in simple practical advice, I tried it and it worked. Soon, the grace of habit took over, and my shoes went back to the rack, but my prayer life continued.
       since I know a great reading on prayer does not eliminate the weakness of the flesh which must be forced to comply with the desire to pray, I will give you that same advice that I was given by my spiritual director.  Remember that whatever practical steps you must take to make your prayer life consistent, take them for the good you seek can only be found in God, and prayer is the intangible access to God.

Political debates and Ideological divides.

    At the end of a long debate, I had to agree with my friend that "I am tired of this senseless debate."  But what kind would make you so tired? You probably guessed it, it is a political debate. This time around however, I have come to a different conclusion; I should get out of the business of trying to change people's minds and get in the business of changing people's hearts, starting with my own. Why? after having lunch with a friend, we started talking politics and while I like to think he leans more on the liberal side, he probably thinks, I lean more on the conservative side, but every time we get together, it's like we are trying to prove that our perspective sides are more just. The more we talk, the more we accuse each other of being ideological and quite frankly tend to overlook the bad of our side while highlighting the "evil" of the other side. Does this sound familiar in many of our political conversations? You be the judge of that.
   This time around however, I was reminded of a principal that I set in my heart a long time ago; if you convince a man to change his mind against his will, he remains unconvinced and unchanged.  Yet, my conversation was not like that since the friend I was talking to is someone I truly respect and love and even share my faith with. That was probably the reason why I was wondering how he can't see things the way I see them, and what I see as black and white, I think he sees grey and in all fairness, the vice versa. What is it then that causes two men with seemingly similar outlooks have such different conclusions? After reviewing our conversations, I could see a trend. Let me explain.
   Being that we are both Catholic Christians, we tend to agree on the fundamentals like abortion is evil, helping the poor is good, gay marriage is a contradiction of natural law, we should protect our environment....etc. It's however how we allow these truths to affect our decisions in politics that seem to take us on different paths. To be more specific, my friend put it bluntly that he couldn't see himself supporting an evil party whose political agenda seem to be fundamentally against the poor in the light of Catholic social teaching that tells us to always prefer the poor.  Well, I countered with a statement that I couldn't even dream of  supporting a party whose political agenda seems to be hellbent on supporting abortion and homosexual marriage which is fundamentally against not only Catholic social teaching but moral and natural law. I wish we were talking about the same party, but unfortunately, we were talking about our two major political parties. You can tell where our conversation was heading. An hour later, he was still trying to convince me that the party that doesn't support abortion uses the issue as a political game to manipulate voters while doing nothing about it, and I tried to convince him that the political party that supports abortion uses the poor as political pawns to advance an agenda that will run all of us to doom and the fact that the poor could be helped just as much without their claiming exclusive right to do so. At the end of this conversation that continued electronically on email, we were both exhausted and back to where we began and quite frankly, I was wishing there was a political party that would embrace all the right issues and then it would make it so much easier for those who care to make the right choices when electing their leaders. But how could we come to such different conclusions while we share so much truth? Allow me.
     Like a good Psychologist would tell you, listen to people and try to understand where they are coming from. Briefly, I will try to demonstrate how our backgrounds landed us where we found ourselves.  My friend Johny (not real name to conceal identity) has expressed how growing up, his mother being poor received help from the government and went to school which helped her get a job that pays well and could support her family. He has also spent his life being compassionate to the poor and with all honesty, I think he's one of the most compassionate person I  know. From this background, you can tell why he would be so passionate about anything that would seem to go against the poor. I on the other side, I grew up in a third world country where the government could care less about the poor, and from that, I learned that it was my job to care for my less fortunate neighbor since he had no one else to run to. On top of this, I was a victim of a tribal genocide where we were replaced from where I was born by violence and propaganda and we lost property and many lives were taken. This coupled with my first hand experience with a friend who almost killed her baby in an abortion makes me feel very strongly about the issue of life and makes me have such an urgency about protecting the unborn whom I think are the most helpless victims of murder by abortion. To be fair, my friend also feels strongly about the issue of life as I feel about helping the poor. So how then can you reconcile the differences?
   Let me try to give an analogy using the hospital.  In the hospital, there are different departments that deal with different issues and while they are all important, we would be misguided to believe that they all require the same urgency. When someone comes to the emergency room, it is a matter of life and death and requires a quick response. On the other hand, if it's not life threatening, while seeing the doctor is just as important, the urgent response may not be necessary and if a doctor had to choose between the emergency room patient and the other, the choice is clear and it doesn't mean they don't care about the patient who doesn't require emergency care.
     Without further ado, let me therefore make my case. The ailments of our times all require attention, and choosing politicians who can address them requires wisdom. To me however, there are issues that are a matter of life and death and to not attend to them I believe would be a mistake that will prove deadly to all of us. The issues that require emergency care are the ones that the Church call Intrinsic evils like Abortion, Homosexuality, Embryonic stem cells, Euthanasia, Racism etc. This issues if neglected proves fatal physically like in the case of abortion where millions of unborn are killed, or promoting homosexual marriage where spiritual casualties will be rampant. Yes we can't neglect the other issues  like what to do with the poor, or education, or environment...etc since neglecting them would eventually prove fatal like a neglected disease, but while they might be in therapy and we might need to change the form of treatment, we don't need to take them to the emergency room. I am of the opinion that if a doctor doesn't understand an emergency when he sees one and even treats an ailment that needs emergency care as if it wasn't an ailment at all, I would want to fire him if it was up to me. The same goes for those seeking leadership in political fields. Those who don't attend to these issues that need urgent attendance or even try to ignore them and say they are not bad at all should not be given the job of being our leaders.  Maybe this is what I was trying to explain to my friend and whether I failed or succeeded, I won't know.  I however think that I came understanding things a little better and having a different view. While maybe I was trying to say some issues didn't need attendance while those like abortions needed it, I have come to see that all issues need attention, but maybe not in the same urgency and degree of care.     
     During elections where everything may not be as black and white as we wish it to be, and while we strive to make moral choices or seemingly prudent choices, I believe if we apply this method, we will come off if not right, better than not. Hopefully my analogy of the hospital will serve to help you. 
   Let me conclude by saying that it is our duty as people who've been given the privilege to govern ourselves by choosing our leaders to educate ourselves and form our consciences so that we can apply our knowledge and with the help of God hopefully make the choices that are both moral and good. Should we neglect this duty of formation, we will have to face the consequences of other people's whims and desires which history has shown seldom comes to a happy conclusion. My prayer is that The all generous God will give us the wisdom we require to navigate this hard times, and the docility to allow Him to guide us and see us through. I also pray that he may give light to our leaders that they may seek Justice and truth in all that they do and have the courage to do what is morally good and just.

How could this be? The mystery of assumption.

        "My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." As I heard this words by Mary to her cousin Elizabeth this morning at mass, I couldn't help but feel a great joy in my heart. Having gotten up early and gone to mass with my family to celebrate the assumption of Mary into Heaven today was obviously rewarded throughtout the mass, but these words especially moved me. I know this may sound foreign to many and even many good Christians, but for us Catholics, this tradition and belief that the mother of Jesus was assumed into heaven bodily shortly after her death is something that has been celebrated for centuries going back to the early Church. Tradition has it that "Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven."  This truth has been contemplated by faithful Christians and saints through out the centuries and guided by the Holy Spirit have all come to the same conclusion; that it was fitting for the mother of God to follow her Son into His heavenly throne body and spirit.
   While the incarnation of Christ moves my mind to an awe filled state whenever I contemplate the fact that God became man, His ascension into Heaven doesn't seem at all strange to me and it is not one that I struggle believing for it was fitting that the Son of God go back to His home. However, when I meditate upon the assumption of Mary, I am awefilled. The assumption of Mary is one of the mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary that brings me great awe but also great hope. Jesus' ressurection and ascension breathes assurance of our final destiny with him in heaven, but Mary's assumption breathes great hope of the fulfilment of this promise. God can surely ressurect and ascend into heaven, no problem! but Mary is a creature and her assumption speaks of the great generosity of God to his children. I guess I think that if He can do it for Mary, there is hope for us. Not that we are as holy as she was, but that we are all creatures and rest our hope in God. This is why those words by her makes my heart so merry and like Mary "my soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior."  Yes indeed we have reasons to rejoice with Mary.  Just like the angels rejoiced and were filled with awe when they saw the Woman who had been chosen to become the mother of God come to heaven, so will they rejoice when we are brought into Heaven following the fulfilment of Our Lord that "if we love him and keep his commandments, where he is, there shall we also be."  I pray that this mystery of the great generosity of God brings all the joy and graces to you that it brings me. 
Lord Jesus, come in glory.
Mary our Mother, pray for us. 

Morality; the greatest obstacle to Christianity

      Lately, I've been thinking about what it is that keep most people from embracing Christianity, and I've finally come to my own conclusions. Without philosophizing too much, I wish to share a  few of my observations.
  I remember a few years ago when I was in my late teens, I struggled with a constant restlessness that I couldn't shake off. I gave myself all the excuses and tried to find an escape, but eventually I realized that it was my straying away from God that was causing this. My reversion to my faith was peppered with moments of great joy, and periods that God would enlighten my soul about truths that up to now only seemed like abstract mysteries that were reserved only for the holiest. One problem which I thought was peculiar only to me was the struggle of abandoning some of the bad habits I had picked up.  In the beginning of my conversion, God's presence seemed to overshadow these weaknesses, but as time went by, I started to notice them. My conscience called me to account but I tried to reason myself out of it. I remember perusing the bible to find out where it said exactly I couldn't do this or that thing. Obviously the more I read the scriptures, the more I found out that I couldn't live as I wished without at the same time contradicting God's law. This many years later, I still struggle but by God's grace, I know the choice to strive to live according to God's will is the right choice.
   Now coming back to my question on what keeps most people from embracing Christianity, I had to ask myself the same question. After honestly probing my heart, the answer remains what I believe is the elephant in the room for most people who have heard the Christian message but rejected it. For me, morality tops all the other obstacles.  I like to call myself a reasonable guy and from this perspective, I have tried to ask myself why any reasonable person would shy away from a belief system that calls us to love, and peace and harmony, unity, mercy, goodness, gentleness and forgiveness. One whose story is based on a God who loves us so much that He left all the glory due to Deity and emptied himself of all that to come and walk where we walk and die for us so as to gain for us eternal life where every suffering and every tear shall be wiped away. Even from a selfish perspective, one would only need to hear the promises that God makes to those who believe in Christ to immediately embrace Him and follow Him. So my question remains, why do so many people choose not to believe and embrace being a Christian. 
   The answer is simple; MORALITY.   With all the promises that God gives us, He also demands that we live in a manner that is conformed to Himself. Since God is all good and holy, Jesus goes so far as to ask us to be "perfect as His Heavenly Father is perfect."  This happen to be the one thing that keep most of us from embracing the only thing that can make us happy, namely; God. The internal struggle that attracts us to sin often blinds us so much so that it eventually condemns us to a life of turmoil.  The momentary pleasure that we get from sin becomes the foundation on which we stand tall to reject the saving message of God.  Otherwise, it defies reason that one should reject the very thing that will make him happy.  Left to ourselves we can't do it, but God gives us the grace not only to believe in Him, but also to follow his will. It is when we choose ourselves instead of God that we start reasoning ourselves out of what is true and good.
  Lately, the persecution of Christians has become so rampant that from the business world to political realms,  the Christian message is viewed as an archaic message that may have worked centuries ago but one that is outdated and need not be tolerated. However, when we come down to it, It is exactly embracing the Christian message that has led to the greatest inventions whose fruits we enjoy.When we love and serve God, our creative genius comes alive and we achieve great things in all areas of life. But with great comforts, there comes complacency and apathy which is the seedbed of evil desires and when matured leads to the rejection of God in search of a pseudo freedom that enslaves us to sin and eventually leads to our demise. A good example is the modern culture where abortion, homosexuality and the entire culture of death is viewed as a human right. When we accept evil as a good, we must at the same time get rid of the idea of God. This is the reason why atheism is growing in our modern world. For many, instead of entertaining the idea that they are wrong and sinful, they'd rather get rid of an absolute good and make their own morality. Many end up rejecting God instead of accepting that their lifestyle is immoral. They convince themselves that they are the masters of their own destinies and they get to define what is right and wrong. The obvious fruits of this type of thinking is emptiness, for peace cannot reign where God doesn't reign.
     Like St. Peter, it makes me ask; "who then can be saved." The answer is simply those who are like little children. Those who having seen their limitations call upon God and believe in the plan that He has for all his children; namely to save them from their sins and welcome them into the eternal beatitude with Him in heaven.  Yes, we often reject God because we would like to maintain our immoral and sinful ways without being accountable, but as often as we ask God's grace, he is merciful to hear us and heal us. We must often meditate upon those comforting words of Our Savior Jesus Christ the Son of God, that "His yoke is sweet and his burden light and he will give rest to all those who come to him."
    Oh how much we need the Lord to deliver us from the three stumbling blocks that are so prevalent in our age, namely; "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life."  Oh how much our world needs the Lord.
 Lord, deliver us from our sins and lead us to eternal life.
Amen.