This evening I would like to share a beautiful story and reflection…
sent to me by a wise friend.
The story comes from a Catholic “blog” site…
where the author…a fellow named Oswald…
shares his reflections on the faith.
He writes that he was sitting toward the back of his parish church one evening…
gazing at the Tabernacle…
and praying.
He heard some noise behind him…
A young woman came in.
Not expecting anyone else at the late hour…
he presumed that she was there to lock up for the night.
Instead, she said that she had come to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
Without hesitating, she walked right up to the Tabernacle…
which is in a side niche…like ours…
and knelt on the floor in adoration.
She stayed in the church for a very long time, he writes…
even after he left himself.
He goes on to describe the woman…
There was nothing pretentious about her or about her prayer.
She came to visit Jesus as if it were simply a regular part of her life,
nothing to be ashamed of…
and not a matter of self-promotion either.
As he writes, he was struck by the woman’s true devotion
and saw in her the healing presence of God in the midst of our world.
He is…as surely many of us are…
disturbed by the manifestations of evil in the world today.
Not just the violence in the Middle East…
but disturbing scenes in our own country and even our own communities.
Evil seems to have the better hand these days…
And yet, as Oswald writes…
even if the world be “sunk in corruption”
…that one woman…
kneeling and praying and pleading for the grace of God…
redeems it all!
[PAUSE]
Today’s First Reading is the story of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the pious prayer of Abraham, the humble servant of the Lord.
The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are grave and horrible…
and they stir up the wrath of the Lord.
The evil and violence…then as now…seem overwhelming.
Then we see Abraham approaching the Lord without hesitation…
without fear or shame…
without concern for himself…
to plead for mercy.
The devout Abraham bargains with the Lord…
The Lord promises to spare Sodom and Gomorrah
if even a handful of virtuous people are found within their gates.
In the midst of bewildering evil…
when we behold the virtue manifested in the piety of holy souls…
we know that god has won the battle!
Yes, there is evil in our world today.And yet, where one virtuous person remains…there is victory!
The complex creativity and varied evils of Satan
are conquered by the simple prayer of humble women and men.
Where there are a thousand Christians gathered and praying…
the victory is tremendous!
[PAUSE]
In today’s Gospel…we are privileged to behold an intimate moment
between Jesus and His Disciples.
They sit at Jesus’ feet and ask Him to teach them to pray.
Jesus in turn shares with them the thoughts of His own heart
and the wisdom that comes from His own prayer…
from His own intimate communion with the Father.
He teaches them the prayer which the Church has recited unceasingly…
We pray it at every Mass.
Those priests, religious men and women, and lay faithful
who pray the Liturgy of the Hours,
recite it at every Lauds and Vespers.
We pray it 6 times in every Rosary.
The Lord’s Prayer is the common prayer of all Christians in every time and place.
Jesus exhorts the apostles to be persistent in prayer.
The needs of the man in His parable…
who is begging for bread…
are met because of his persistence.
Jesus tells us to persist in our prayer…
to keep asking…seeking…knocking…
And He promises that we, too, shall be rewarded with an abundance of grace
in return for our constant commitment to prayer.
We who are conformed to Christ as the members of His Body, the Church…
We have a vocation to prayer!
If evil is to be overcome…
If we are ever to be happy…healthy…loving people…
then persistence in prayer must be a hallmark of our lives.
The authentic Christian prays constantly…daily…
The disciple of the Lord prays as He taught…
according to the pattern of the Our Father…
which is the perfect model of all prayer.
The committed Catholic prays before the Tabernacle…
adoring the person of Christ, who is really and truly present in the Eucharist.
I know that you have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament here on Thursday nights.
I am delighted to see that.
I commend all those who come to pray before the Lord.
I encourage each and every one of you to come to Adoration.
Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is a unique moment of intimacy,
in which we unite ourselves ever more closely to the person of Jesus Christ.
If even one virtuous woman or man remains…
God’s work is alive in our midst!
The prayer and devotion of even one virtuous person
is an instrument of God’s grace and healing!
And so we pray…daily… unceasingly…persistently…`
until at last we are taken up into the prayer of heaven…
the eternal Sacred Liturgy of the Lamb of God…
where holy souls give glory to God forever!
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