Daniel 3:25, 34-43; Remember your mercies O lord; Matthew 18:21-35
Why would God care about us?
Why would God go to so much trouble over us?
Why would God send his son to show us the way knowing we would forsake him anyway?
Why would God create a human being knowing that he would abuse his freedom?
Why would God bother in the first place?
Why does God even listen to our prayers, when most days we don't make any sense at all anyway?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
The prophet Daniel has an answer for all the questions we ponder in our daily life, in our daily grind:
"For your name's sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever, or make void your covenant."
For your name sake...
Why Does God bother with us? Because he gave us his word...enough said.
And just in case we don't get it. Just in case we begin to doubt it.
That's why we have the Eucharist..."take this all of you and eat and drink...this is my blood shed for many...blood of the new covenant."
Just in case his word we doubt, he gives us his life....He loves us all the way to the end.
No greater Love than to lay own one's life for his friends...While we were sinners Christ died for us.
For his name sake is enough reason for God to keep the door open for us..
As Daniel says so beautifully, "deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name."
there it is in black and white.
Why forgive our brother from our heart as Jesus points out in the gospel...why not....we were forgiven first...we just simply have to pass it on...keep passing it on for the sake of his name.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
barefoot
Exodus 3:1-8,13-15; Ps 103 The Lord is Kind and Merciful; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9
"Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor."
"Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor."
The above is a statement made by the gentlemen whose pen name is Sholem Aleichem, which means peace be with you, oddly enough.
I like the statement. I fact I am intrigued by it something terrible.
Life is a dream for the Wise.
Life is a game for the fool.
Life is a comedy for the rich.
Life is a tragedy for the poor.
Which is it for each of us, I wonder?
I like the statement not because it is true, rather because it is almost true. It sounds true. It has nice ring to it. It is catchy. Yet, I think it is inaccurate.
It is a nice play on words that invites thought. But in the end, it fails to measure fully the impact of life as gift.
Life is a gift. Because it is a gift it is filled with windows of opportunities, windows of grace. These moments can be embraced or forsaken.
Look at the first reading for today. Moses is minding his own business, tending to the flock of his father-n-law. He was simply doing a days work, tedious, boring, mundane.
Sounds like any given day here and now for the un-intuned mind.
It wasn't until Moses veered from the routine. It wasn't until Moses stepped aside to go and see that the window of opportunity, the window of grace was encountered.
"I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned."
In this dramatic shift from his humdrum lifestyle, this dramatic shift from the routine of living, Moses avails himself to something more: grace beckons and his hearts refuses to shy away.
As he approaches, he encounters the call, "Moses, Moses."
Moses responds, "Here I am." God said, "Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers."
What a beautiful dialogue. First of all, I wonder what our life would look like if, when we encounter difficulty or that which is not expected in the daily grind of life, that we were to embrace it with the same response as Moses, "Here I am."
Moses is being present to the moment. He is not reacting but responding with a simple gesture of being available, allowing the unfolding reality of life to have access to his presence. He is not worried about what was or what would be but is for the time caught up in what is unfolding in the here and now.
In the gift of his life, he welcomes the gift of the moment. Here I am.
Then he receives the invitation to remove his sandals for he is on Holy ground.
Have you ever been invited to take off your shoes? It is an awkward invitation. For so many of us, we live with our guard up. We shy away from risking being vulnerable. We get embarrassed at making our feet seen by another.
It is always interesting to see men take off their shoes at the Holy Thursday Mass. They are so tentative and self-conscious that they can't wait to put their shoes back on once their feet have been washed.
I remember on several occasions I was invited to remove my shoes. A priest friend of mine, when I was a deacon serving at his Good Friday service, mentioned that we were going to celebrate the service barefooted. I remember being a bit taken back by that.
I was wondering what people would say or think as we came down the aisle and prostrated before the altar with our bare feet exposed.
On another occasion visiting my Asian friend's home, I was invited to remove my shoes. They do it out of routine. Every time they enter the home their shoes come off . For them it is probably a simple gesture of not wanting to bring dirt from the outside in.
But for me, it was more than that. It meant I could not leave quickly. It meant I had to stay a while. It was invitation to surrender, to let down my guard, to receive them as they received me.
Let's face it, with my shoes off, I could't make a quick exit. They were demanding from me trust and surrender.
Is this not what God was inviting Moses to do. Moses was on God's time table not his own. Moses wasn't going to include God in his plans but rather he was being asked to be formed by God's plan. It was no longer Moses dictating, rather God directing.
The simple gesture of removing his sandals says so much about what we are lacking in our own lives as we interact with so many. We run around so busily, so rushed that we often forget about the encounter with God awaiting for us in the next person we meet, the burning bush radiant with the face of the divine made in his image and likeness.
Many people long for the burning bush experience. We often wish to validate our life by those special encounters we have with the infinite goodness of God entering our time and space and history.
People go out of their way to recapture that experience or that moment. We go out of our way to go to those holy places where that are silent witness of God entering our history, our plain of existence.
This is why we go on pilgrimage, why we go to Rome to pray at the tombs of the saints, why we go to the Holy Land, why we flock to Lourdes, Fatima, and even Medjugorje. These are good things to do, but we forget that the holiest place on earth is the place we are occupying at any given moment, the place in our life that has surrendered to to God.
The one thing that is constant about the holy places is each involves a human heart that said yes: the human heart of St. Peter, the human heart of St. Bernadette, the human heart of St. Francis opening wide and letting God have His way with them.
The one thing that is constant about the holy places is each involves a human heart that said yes: the human heart of St. Peter, the human heart of St. Bernadette, the human heart of St. Francis opening wide and letting God have His way with them.
For God is no longer bound to a place but he as intimately connected himself to a chosen people, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so he is the God of each of us.
We take the burning bush with us as we go!
Especially since Christ comes to live with in us at Baptism, and nourishes us with his very presence in the Eucharist. Where we are, is holy.
Remove your shoes today. Walk around barefoot. Know you are in a sacred place. Be present. Let your life be what it is suppose to be a gift for the moment, in the moment of right now.
The window of opportunity, the window of grace has been opened wide: repent so as not to perish. Repent means to change your attitude, change your mind, change how you see the burning bush flame out from each moment of your life.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Best of all
Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28; Ps 105 Remember the marvels the Lord has done; Mt 21:33-43,45-46
The question has often been posed, "do parents have favorites?"
Here is a question for the ages, a question i am sure many parents think about as they relate to their children, depending of course on how many they have to relate with through out a given day.
But is it proper for parents to have favorites and is it proper for them to manifest that favoritism in such manner that the rest of the children begin to suspect it, experience it, and of course despise it.
I am not sure if my parents had favorites. There were ten of us in the family. I do remember moments where some of us got so called "better" treatment than others at different times. There did seem hint of favoritism toward the older children in the family.
The task of good parenting is not to have favorites. The task of good parenting is to treat each child as the best child and most important child while disciplining them all the same.
Yet, we know there are those who like some of their children better than others.
This is the case with today's first reading, "Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic (coat of many colors)."
Of course this favoritism led to trouble. The brothers weren't having none of it. They were hot, anger, envious, and just down right pissed off, "When the brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much they would not even greet him."
How quickly can love be treated with such hostility. How quickly can affection turn sour in the mouths of others.
Now perhaps, Joseph wasn't the innocent little lamb he seems to be. It seems that little Joseph in his long tunic may have flaunted a bit this gift of closeness with his father; perhaps he made a point to make sure those brothers of his understood just how import he was in their father's eyes.
Pride may have been involved in the unfolding of the story.
Little Joseph may have taken advantage of his father's love and used in his advantage, which meant he used it to the disadvantage of hi brothers.
Not only did Joseph have his father's love, he also was a gifted dreamer (Gen 37:5). IT seemed Joseph was one of those kids that had it all. He had the looks, the charm, the athletic ability, his father's affection, and to top it off he had the gift of dreams, dreams that exalted him over his brothers (Gen 37:6-11)
Needless to say, the brothers had up to their chin with Joseph and his fancy clothes, and fancy dreams, and fancy affection of their father. They decided to equal the playing field by taking him out.
They sold Joseph to some traders for 20 pieces of silver.
The story foreshadows the life of Christ. Christ was the one loved best of all by the Father. He came to us, his brothers and sisters to share God's dream of holiness and mercy. He flesh was clothed in the garment of divinity.
The more he offered goodness to others, the more he was rejected. Unlike Joseph, it was his humility that people despised. It was his truthfulness that people rejected. It was his love that they turn against.
For silver pieces he too was sold into slavery, imprisoned and eventually killed.
What was meant for evil became a great good. For through His offer of himself, we become the ones loved best of all by the Father.
We, sons and daughters, encounter the depth of love the Father has for us. Does God have favorites? Absolutely! We are loved best of all.
As you make the way of the cross this Friday, and journey in the footsteps of Christ as receives the cross and rises and falls along the way, keep this in mind: it was for us, that we might finally get it through our thick skulls, we are loved best of all.
By the way, today is the feast of St. David of Wells. IT is good to have a David enrolled in the honor roll of saints. Gives me hope...
The question has often been posed, "do parents have favorites?"
Here is a question for the ages, a question i am sure many parents think about as they relate to their children, depending of course on how many they have to relate with through out a given day.
But is it proper for parents to have favorites and is it proper for them to manifest that favoritism in such manner that the rest of the children begin to suspect it, experience it, and of course despise it.
I am not sure if my parents had favorites. There were ten of us in the family. I do remember moments where some of us got so called "better" treatment than others at different times. There did seem hint of favoritism toward the older children in the family.
The task of good parenting is not to have favorites. The task of good parenting is to treat each child as the best child and most important child while disciplining them all the same.
Yet, we know there are those who like some of their children better than others.
This is the case with today's first reading, "Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic (coat of many colors)."
Of course this favoritism led to trouble. The brothers weren't having none of it. They were hot, anger, envious, and just down right pissed off, "When the brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much they would not even greet him."
How quickly can love be treated with such hostility. How quickly can affection turn sour in the mouths of others.
Now perhaps, Joseph wasn't the innocent little lamb he seems to be. It seems that little Joseph in his long tunic may have flaunted a bit this gift of closeness with his father; perhaps he made a point to make sure those brothers of his understood just how import he was in their father's eyes.
Pride may have been involved in the unfolding of the story.
Little Joseph may have taken advantage of his father's love and used in his advantage, which meant he used it to the disadvantage of hi brothers.
Not only did Joseph have his father's love, he also was a gifted dreamer (Gen 37:5). IT seemed Joseph was one of those kids that had it all. He had the looks, the charm, the athletic ability, his father's affection, and to top it off he had the gift of dreams, dreams that exalted him over his brothers (Gen 37:6-11)
Needless to say, the brothers had up to their chin with Joseph and his fancy clothes, and fancy dreams, and fancy affection of their father. They decided to equal the playing field by taking him out.
They sold Joseph to some traders for 20 pieces of silver.
The story foreshadows the life of Christ. Christ was the one loved best of all by the Father. He came to us, his brothers and sisters to share God's dream of holiness and mercy. He flesh was clothed in the garment of divinity.
The more he offered goodness to others, the more he was rejected. Unlike Joseph, it was his humility that people despised. It was his truthfulness that people rejected. It was his love that they turn against.
For silver pieces he too was sold into slavery, imprisoned and eventually killed.
What was meant for evil became a great good. For through His offer of himself, we become the ones loved best of all by the Father.
We, sons and daughters, encounter the depth of love the Father has for us. Does God have favorites? Absolutely! We are loved best of all.
As you make the way of the cross this Friday, and journey in the footsteps of Christ as receives the cross and rises and falls along the way, keep this in mind: it was for us, that we might finally get it through our thick skulls, we are loved best of all.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
looking past the suffering
Matthew 20:17-28
Take a look at the gospel for today.
Jesus announces his impeding death: "The son of man will be handed over to the chief priest and the scribes, they will condemn him to death, hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the last day."
Most of what Jesus says in the above sentence is negative, tragic, unbelievable cruel and violent. Look at the words used to describe the impending reality:handed over, condemned, mocked, scourged, crucified.
what would you do if an intimate companion came up to you and said those things?
Where would your heart find its rest with such imagery presented to it?
Yet, all the mother of James and John could think about was what her sons were going to gain out of it. What was in it for her and her sons! This is partly due to the sons themselves. They were the ones in the know. Unless mom was eaves dropping, she only knew what are sons had told her.
How quickly the sons overlooked or looked pass the harsh reality forth coming.
I commend the mother for seeking to have her sons one at Jesus' right and left. These are noble desires that all parents should have for their children.
But, what about the suffering? What about the violence to be done to the one who they love and cherish?
How often are we like this mother and these sons and we look past the suffering? How often do we look past the cost of salvation? How often we treat grace as it was cheap?
We must not look past the suffering for it is only in the gift given can we truly begin to understand the beauty of grace...it is free but it is never cheap and nor should we cheapen it.
How often we want to get to the happy without going through the suffering? This is why we are so noncommittal in our society. We want to bypass any trial or suffering or diligent effort. How like the sons we want to rush ahead and sit at the right and left avoiding the true cost of such a reward.
We should always look toward the resurrection and glory to come, but looking past the suffering means we just don't get the depth, breath, length, and height of God's Love (Ephesians 3:18)
As I was journeying through Assisi visiting the Basilicas of St. Clare and St. Francis, I was struck by some of words I encountered near the crypt shared from St. Clare to her companions. As you go in to the crypt to view St. Clare's body still lying in state as it did in the 13th century, on the walls are her advice to her companions then and to us now. I was struck by one of her sayings.
It was the following:"totally love him who totally gave himself for love of us."
Totally love him who gave himself totally for love of you.
This is why we should not look past the suffering because then we look past the totality of the gift that ensures us of the breath, depth, height, and length of God's love.
Enter in to the suffering, never look past it.
Take a look at the gospel for today.
Jesus announces his impeding death: "The son of man will be handed over to the chief priest and the scribes, they will condemn him to death, hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the last day."
Most of what Jesus says in the above sentence is negative, tragic, unbelievable cruel and violent. Look at the words used to describe the impending reality:handed over, condemned, mocked, scourged, crucified.
what would you do if an intimate companion came up to you and said those things?
Where would your heart find its rest with such imagery presented to it?
Yet, all the mother of James and John could think about was what her sons were going to gain out of it. What was in it for her and her sons! This is partly due to the sons themselves. They were the ones in the know. Unless mom was eaves dropping, she only knew what are sons had told her.
How quickly the sons overlooked or looked pass the harsh reality forth coming.
I commend the mother for seeking to have her sons one at Jesus' right and left. These are noble desires that all parents should have for their children.
But, what about the suffering? What about the violence to be done to the one who they love and cherish?
How often are we like this mother and these sons and we look past the suffering? How often do we look past the cost of salvation? How often we treat grace as it was cheap?
We must not look past the suffering for it is only in the gift given can we truly begin to understand the beauty of grace...it is free but it is never cheap and nor should we cheapen it.
How often we want to get to the happy without going through the suffering? This is why we are so noncommittal in our society. We want to bypass any trial or suffering or diligent effort. How like the sons we want to rush ahead and sit at the right and left avoiding the true cost of such a reward.
We should always look toward the resurrection and glory to come, but looking past the suffering means we just don't get the depth, breath, length, and height of God's Love (Ephesians 3:18)
As I was journeying through Assisi visiting the Basilicas of St. Clare and St. Francis, I was struck by some of words I encountered near the crypt shared from St. Clare to her companions. As you go in to the crypt to view St. Clare's body still lying in state as it did in the 13th century, on the walls are her advice to her companions then and to us now. I was struck by one of her sayings.
It was the following:"totally love him who totally gave himself for love of us."
Totally love him who gave himself totally for love of you.
This is why we should not look past the suffering because then we look past the totality of the gift that ensures us of the breath, depth, height, and length of God's love.
Enter in to the suffering, never look past it.
humility
"The greatest among you must be your servant. Who ever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
the greatest among you must be your servant.
These are words from Christ yesterday.
But they are words that are good for every day, especially during the season of Lent.
What is at the heart of a true servant?
While I was in Rome, I was able to spend a few moments in the Church of St Augustine, where St. Monica is buried. So to help understand what it means to be a servant i will enlist the help of St. Augustine himself:
"If you should ask me what are the ways of GOd, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, the third is still humility. If humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless."
These words are worth thinking about in regards to service.
As Christians, there is nothing beneath us, there is no act to lowly, except for that which is associated it with sinfulness.
Sin alone is the only act that we should frown upon. All other acts no matter how menial they seem are instrumental in getting us ever closer to living our true greatness as servants of God most High.
Humility is about action. We often have a common experience of those who speak but to not act. How often have we heard, 'do as I say not as I do' as a mantra from those who are in our lives.
But this can not be for the Christian. For us we do first, talk later. What we practice becomes what we preach and this is where humility thrives.
What of the things St. Jose MAria Escriva speaks about is humility. And he gives a list of things that helps us recognize when humility is not present. Here are a few:
* thinking that what you do or say is better than others
*always wanting to get your own way
*insisting stubbornly or with bad manners
*not being aware that all the gift you have are on loan
*mentioning yourself as an example for others to imitate
my personal favorite: refusing to carry out menial tasks promptly and on time
This is the one that most of us need to be attentive to.
As a servant there is nothing to lowly but sin itself. All acts are geared toward our own greatness as servants.
The greatest among you is the servant.
Ponder Jesus' invitation to greatness, and embrace the gift of humility: The ground from which all other virtues spring.
the greatest among you must be your servant.
These are words from Christ yesterday.
But they are words that are good for every day, especially during the season of Lent.
What is at the heart of a true servant?
While I was in Rome, I was able to spend a few moments in the Church of St Augustine, where St. Monica is buried. So to help understand what it means to be a servant i will enlist the help of St. Augustine himself:
"If you should ask me what are the ways of GOd, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, the third is still humility. If humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless."
These words are worth thinking about in regards to service.
As Christians, there is nothing beneath us, there is no act to lowly, except for that which is associated it with sinfulness.
Sin alone is the only act that we should frown upon. All other acts no matter how menial they seem are instrumental in getting us ever closer to living our true greatness as servants of God most High.
Humility is about action. We often have a common experience of those who speak but to not act. How often have we heard, 'do as I say not as I do' as a mantra from those who are in our lives.
But this can not be for the Christian. For us we do first, talk later. What we practice becomes what we preach and this is where humility thrives.
What of the things St. Jose MAria Escriva speaks about is humility. And he gives a list of things that helps us recognize when humility is not present. Here are a few:
* thinking that what you do or say is better than others
*always wanting to get your own way
*insisting stubbornly or with bad manners
*not being aware that all the gift you have are on loan
*mentioning yourself as an example for others to imitate
my personal favorite: refusing to carry out menial tasks promptly and on time
This is the one that most of us need to be attentive to.
As a servant there is nothing to lowly but sin itself. All acts are geared toward our own greatness as servants.
The greatest among you is the servant.
Ponder Jesus' invitation to greatness, and embrace the gift of humility: The ground from which all other virtues spring.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
vicariously
Nehemiah 8:2-4, 5-6, 8-10; Ps 19 Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; 1 corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Just a few words.
Right smack in the middle of the second reading, as St. Paul unfolds his understanding of church we get these words addressed to one of the earliest christian communities and for that matter addressed to us: "You are Christ's body, and individually parts of it."
You are Christ's body....
Lets rearrange it a bit and see if we can drive home the point St. Paul is making. You are the body of Christ.
There that's better. Think in that. You are the body of Christ.
We see parents all the time wanting to live vicariously through their children. We especially see this in the sports world.
But want St. Paul is telling us is that Christ not only wants to but does in fact live through us. Our body, our flesh and blood and bone now become his body.
Wow!
St. Luke tells us in the gospel that "many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the vents that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down orderly that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received."
St. Luke has picked up his pen to write the story of Christ. He has chosen to do so for posterity sake, for the future.
St. Paul invites us todo the same. When he tells us that we are the body of Christ, then he simply reminds us that the story of salvation, the story of God's intervention into history is no longer that which is kept on a written page but rather now is proclaimed through flesh and blood.
We now tell the story of Christ by the life we live. It is our lives now that become the medium of execution to keep the story alive and to spread it forth into the future.
This is our task. We pick up where St. Luke leaves off. We must become story tellers with the life we live. This is the most essential way of making sure that the story is not only told but truly is reliable and believable because it is witnessed in our life.
Just a few words.
Right smack in the middle of the second reading, as St. Paul unfolds his understanding of church we get these words addressed to one of the earliest christian communities and for that matter addressed to us: "You are Christ's body, and individually parts of it."
You are Christ's body....
Lets rearrange it a bit and see if we can drive home the point St. Paul is making. You are the body of Christ.
There that's better. Think in that. You are the body of Christ.
We see parents all the time wanting to live vicariously through their children. We especially see this in the sports world.
But want St. Paul is telling us is that Christ not only wants to but does in fact live through us. Our body, our flesh and blood and bone now become his body.
Wow!
St. Luke tells us in the gospel that "many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the vents that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down orderly that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received."
St. Luke has picked up his pen to write the story of Christ. He has chosen to do so for posterity sake, for the future.
St. Paul invites us todo the same. When he tells us that we are the body of Christ, then he simply reminds us that the story of salvation, the story of God's intervention into history is no longer that which is kept on a written page but rather now is proclaimed through flesh and blood.
We now tell the story of Christ by the life we live. It is our lives now that become the medium of execution to keep the story alive and to spread it forth into the future.
This is our task. We pick up where St. Luke leaves off. We must become story tellers with the life we live. This is the most essential way of making sure that the story is not only told but truly is reliable and believable because it is witnessed in our life.
This how you are to pray
In today's gospel we encounter these words of Jesus right before he gives us the " Lord's Prayer" or as we say the "our Father": this how you are to pray.
As we think on those words for a minute, we must remember that prayer prepares the hearts for judgment. Prayer is what enables us to judge correctly as to our behavior.
Prayer prepares the heart for love in action.
If we pray wrong we live wrong. Now some may say there is no such thing as praying wrong, but Jesus seems to think there is. It is Jesus who says, " don't babble like the pagans...do not be like them."
There is a right way to pray. Jesus gives us the form of pray in the "Our Father."
It is the five finger prayer:
A: adoration. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed Be thy name
S: surrender. thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
K: knocking or kneading. Give us this day our daily bread
M: mold me. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us (make me my heart like yours)
E: escort or guide me. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Amen!
Here is the prayer that forms our heart and mind to judge wisely the things of earth and to love the things of heaven.
As I make my way through Rome and Assissi, I encounter the remains of many devout men and women who pressed this prayer upon their lips numerous times and thus were able truly love in the proper order: God above all, then their neighbor, lastly themselves.
Prayer prepares the heart to love!
As we think on those words for a minute, we must remember that prayer prepares the hearts for judgment. Prayer is what enables us to judge correctly as to our behavior.
Prayer prepares the heart for love in action.
If we pray wrong we live wrong. Now some may say there is no such thing as praying wrong, but Jesus seems to think there is. It is Jesus who says, " don't babble like the pagans...do not be like them."
There is a right way to pray. Jesus gives us the form of pray in the "Our Father."
It is the five finger prayer:
A: adoration. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed Be thy name
S: surrender. thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
K: knocking or kneading. Give us this day our daily bread
M: mold me. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us (make me my heart like yours)
E: escort or guide me. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Amen!
Here is the prayer that forms our heart and mind to judge wisely the things of earth and to love the things of heaven.
As I make my way through Rome and Assissi, I encounter the remains of many devout men and women who pressed this prayer upon their lips numerous times and thus were able truly love in the proper order: God above all, then their neighbor, lastly themselves.
Prayer prepares the heart to love!
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