Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends and Parishioners of Saint Jerome,

Pax Christi semper vobiscum!

The Gospel relates this weekend that Jesus woke up early in the morning and prayed. Of course, my immediate question was, why would He need to pray if He were God and what would be His prayers be like? Did he ask God to make Him more patient in dealing with His enemies? Did He also pray for those who helped Him during His ministry? Did He bring to God’s attention His worries and concerns regarding issues of mercy, peace, justice and unity? What was the prayers of Jesus like? Did He simply pray the “Our Father” as an expression of His longing for God?

We normally consider prayer as a set of rituals that are said privately or publicly. We are often confined to the understanding that prayer is defined by our recitation of the rosary or chanting out loud some repetitive phrases of litanies. Jesus showed us what it looks like to pray. He withdrew from the crowd so He could be away from outside noise. He knew how to stay away from the excessive activities of His public ministry so He could also spend time in intimate solitude with God. Our devotional prayers are good. Praying the rosary is good. Mental prayer and meditations are better. However, contemplation is the best because it is a special moment where we unite ourselves with God and God unites Himself with us. Contemplation is a complete communion of God’s Spirit in us. Our ability to remain in silence is an opportunity for us to hear the voice of God that speaks in the silence of our heart. It is in silence that we can truly discern His Will that can move us into action.

Our habit of prayer is important. Jesus did have a habit of prayer. It was in the deserted places that He communed with His Heavenly Father. A designated time and place provides a valuable space that can make us grow in our intimacy with God. Our consideration of making also our own deserted place in the parameter of our own bedroom could be enough to spend some quiet moments with the Lord. A discipline of time determines our commitment to the prayer life. Both our ability to designate a time and space for prayer protects our valued relationship with God.  As we know, we make time for something that is valuable to us, and we also prioritize those engagements that we consider important to us. Our prayer life should be one of our utmost priorities.

Jesus was remarkably successful during His public ministry because He was guided by the Spirit of God. Jesus made Himself available to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and allowed His heart to remain opened so He could discern His ministry and its result for the good of the people, according to the Will of His Father.  Prayer guides us to a much deeper discernment of the gifts and talents that we want to contribute to the Church. Jesus’ role in the history of salvation was made clearer, and it was revealed during His communication with the Father in prayer.

Yes, when we pray, we got to know ourselves more. Knowing ourselves is to encounter the One who has created us, the One who has loved us first.  Our encounter with the One who made us brings us freedom because our knowledge of God will also reveal the meaning of our life when we are fully conscious of our communion with Him. So, pray unceasingly. Consider prayer not as an interruption of your daily routine. Rather, make prayer a part of your daily discovery of the presence of God that brings us new life each day.

Sincerely in Christ and Mary,