Thursday, March 6, 2014

Day 2: The Sea of Prayer

“…we are called to dive into the sea of prayer, which is the sea of God’s boundless love, to enjoy its tenderness.”  --Pope Francis' Ash Wednesday Homily


Yesterday, our Holy Father called us to lead a more ardent life of prayer during this Lenten season.  Prayer is what brings us closer to the Lord.  I have used the metaphor that the Pope used yesterday of the sea to illustrate the immensity of God’s love and that we are the ones called to dive into that sea to feel his eternal embrace.  One can get lost in that immense sea.  But is this wrong?  How can we get truly lost if we are surrounded by God in prayer? He focuses our attention on what is important, and who and what to pray for, and on our heart’s need to never be satisfied with whatever time we devote to prayer.  I know that in my personal prayer life, when I enter into deep prayer with the Lord, much like when I’m in the sea, I don’t want to get out. But mission calls.  Prayer spurs us to charitable action.  It is also in prayer where we present our needs to the Lord and present to him all those who have asked for our prayers.  Just yesterday, I was answering phones and a young man simply said, “Can you please pray for me?”  I said of course.  But he was insistent in wanting to hear over the phone some sort of prayer directed heavenward specifically for him.  So many depend on our prayers: the sick, the lonely, the desperate, and let us never forget the blessed souls of purgatory who depend on our prayers.  May we dedicate ourselves more firmly this Lent to daily prayer, and spend more quality time before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  (And if you’re reading this, know that you are in my prayers as well.)