The man who prays is in glory...

Romans 8:8:26-30; Ps 13 My hope O Lord is in your mercy; Luke 13:22-30


Below is a commentary Pope Benedict gave on prayer a few weeks back. The commentary on prayer is a reflection on Psalm 3.

"This is the great temptation to which the believer is subjected -- the temptation to lose faith, to lose trust in the nearness of God. The just man overcomes this ultimate test; he remains steadfast in the faith, in the certainty of the truth and in full confidence in God, and it is precisely in this way that he finds life and truth. It seems to me that here the psalm touches us very personally; in so many problems we are tempted to think that perhaps not even God can save me, that He doesn't know me, that perhaps it is not possible for Him; the temptation against faith is the enemy's final assault, and this we must resist -- in so doing, we find God and we find life."

"This interweaving of the human cry and the divine response is the dialectic of prayer and the key to reading the whole of salvation history. The cry expresses the need for help and it appeals to the faithfulness of the other; to cry out means to express faith in the nearness of God and in His readiness to listen. Prayer expresses certainty in a divine presence already experienced and believed in, [a presence] manifested most fully by God's saving response. This is significant: that in our prayer the certainty of God's presence be important, that it be present. Thus, the psalmist, who feels himself besieged by death, confesses his faith in the God of life who as a shield wraps him with invulnerable protection; he who thought himself already lost can now lift up his head, for the Lord saves him; the man who prays -- threatened and scorned -- is in glory, because God is his glory."

Think about that last line. The man who prays in in glory, because God is his glory.

What a beautiful reminder about the necessity of perseverance in prayer.
How often we forget; how often we need to be reminded.

Flipping to the gospel today we encounter the question posed to JEsus by "someone". "Lord, will only a few people be saved."

This random, no name person poses a very important question. The question could be from anyone and many times it is a question we ourselves grapple with on a regular basis as we look out into the world.

In about 33 days the new translation of the Roman Missal will go into effect. We will be praying with different words. One of the new translations is going to affect the words of consecration.

Previously the priest prayed the following in the consecration of the wine, "Take this all of you and drink form it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me."

The new translation will have a few alterations, "Take this all of you and and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.

Notice the change of words as highlighted. Especially note the words are changed from "for all" to "for many."

Some scholars suggest that not only are the words "for many" more in lined with the actual words of scripture, as mentioned in isaiah 53:11-12, where the suffering servant would come to bear the sins of "many" and making "many" righteous but also some suggest that "for many" is a response to the question posed by the "someone" of today's gospel.

The person was aiming low, where as God in Christ was aiming high, not "for few" but "for many."

In deed Jesus Dies for all and the universal scope of the saving mission remains intact. Jesus dies for all, but not everyone chooses to accept the gift. Each individual must choose to accept the gift of salvation in Christ and live according to the grace so that they may be counted among the "many."

Thus, those who gather to celebrate the Eucharist each Sunday have chosen to respond to God's gift in Christ and thus they enter into that time of prayer in deed in glory, the one who prays is in glory, for God is his glory.