June 2018
Gospel of John (Jn 1:11-14)
And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
Vincentian Reflection
We’ve all heard and I imagine said “The Lord works in mysterious ways”. Which, by the way is not scriptural or to be found literally In the Catechism.
Guess what? I’m still on prayer. Well, like many of you I too pray frequently. What I’m specifically saying here with “…still on prayer” is that tonight is a third and final (for now) reflection on prayer.
Perhaps the first reflection should have included the following background; In 1986 then Pope and now Saint John-Paul II appointed a commission of cardinals and bishops and named then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger president. Together they were tasked with forming a compendium of the catholic faith, a “universal catechism” for the target audience of the College of Bishops.
College of Bishops my foot. To revise a pop culture quote, “If you publish it, they will read it” – today the Catechism remains a teaching tool and reference for all catholics around the globe and is no longer thought to be just for the Bishops.
However, my point is that the Catechism is split into four major sections and yup, you’ve guessed right…Part Four is “Christian Prayer”.
Prayer is that central to practicing our faith. The catechism, church teaching and catholic writings all tell us God wants our company, God wants us to love him and thirsts for us.
When we follow the example of Christ, more often than not we can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. We know we have done well and like any father, God is “most proud” of us. However, when we pray, we gift the Lord with the most precious commodity in all of this physical world…time. We are choosing to spend a slice of our very little time on this earth to say thanks, to say please, to say You Lord are so important to me I stop all other activity to be with you.
Does all of this qualify as “a reflection”? Maybe yes, maybe no…but lets close with maybe this is a reminder not only for myself but us all of the
…”importance of persistence in our daily prayer life, so that we can truly dwell in the presence of God in all ways.”
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