Prayer and Contemplation

Prayer and Contemplation

“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46)

The simple yet productive way to progress in union with the Holy Trinity is to pray slowly enough so that you will listen to what you are communicating to the Lord. Sometimes we make a habit of saying our prayers by rote, reciting them without thought of what the words mean. That’s what our loving Lord Jesus means in the above quotation. We don’t always consider the implications of our prayers.

How often we call God “Lord” both in our private prayers and in the sacred services. Ask anybody the meaning of the term, and we’ll rarely hear, “I don’t know.” But the essence of the word has been lost in a democracy like ours, where we so emphasize equality that we have lost any concept of the difference between master and servant. That’s the glory of our American way of life, but in the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Christian, we are not on an equal basis. We don’t save ourselves; He saves us. We don’t elect ourselves members of the Kingdom of Heaven; we pray for Him to choose us. And we don’t make the rules for the way we live on earth; we take our cues from the sacred scriptures and the teachings of the Church. Of course we may find many who call themselves Christians and follow their own impulses by fashioning a do-it-yourself religion; but for the true Christian, that’s not only impossible, it leads to a dead end.

How can we do what Christ tells us? He speaks directly in the New Testament at times, and through the apostles in other places. His teachings are embellished and shaped for further comprehension in the sacred services of the Church, in the writings of the saints and those who are inspired by the Holy Spirit with insights that help us on our journeys through life.

He speaks to us in our prayers as well. Pay attention to the phrases you are whispering, and you will be gifted with hidden meanings that you would not capture by cursory repetitions. You will discover that some prayer you have recited daily since childhood, such as the Lord’s Prayer, O Heavenly King or the 23rd Psalm, will come alive in a most unexpected way. You are captured by a term or phrase in an “Aha!” moment. You had not understood it quite that way ever before.

It happens especially when you have experienced something new and different in your life’s journey. Maybe you have been humbled by a disappointment, or challenged by some illness, a loss of job or a move from your place of residence. Perhaps somebody dear to you caused a trauma in your own routine. A relative had been severely tested, a loved one created a hardship in your life, or you decided to explore at a deeper lever the beliefs that you had previously taken for granted.

It may happen that when you are hospitalized you find you can be changed by Him who “makes me lie down” either in green pastures or on a bed of nails. Or when for the first time you “walk through the shadow of death,” you learn the depth of your faith. And when you are overflowing with joy brought on by somebody you had come to appreciate in a new and exciting way, and you find that “my cup runneth over.”

These are examples of word nourishment, and the taste of such morsels is more delicious than anything that comes from mere food. When you learn to contemplate in this manner, you will relish the experience and want nothing more to satisfy you. Here you will find a new meaning of life. You will rise above the mundane and move into the temple of your mind.