Wednesday, July 4, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia. That document proclaims: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Woodrow Wilson reminded us a century ago that this document is a “program of action” for all people. This Wednesday, we might rededicate ourselves to these truths for people here and everywhere.
As we reflect on our own liberties, we might pray for the many people around the world who are being discriminated against or injured or killed for practicing their faith. Pray that God will find a safe home for their families. If you are able, please consider a gift to the Peter’s Pence Collection this weekend, supporting the charitable works of Pope Francis. Funds from this worldwide collection help victims of war, oppression, and natural disasters.
The word of God takes us back to the first century before Jesus, to the wisdom literature of ancient Israel, a collection of books about how to live and how to behave. The author reflects on the theme of life and death, mortality and immortality, the perishable and the imperishable.
The author clearly tells us that God created us in his own image and likeness; that we possess the spark of the divine within ourselves. We are destined to be in relationship with God and one another forever. But do we live in light of this purpose?
Paul in his letter urges the Christian community in Corinth to be generous in the collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. And why should the community be generous? Because, Paul writes, Jesus Christ Himself is an example of generosity par excellence. The eternal Word became materially poor in Jesus so that we could become spiritually rich. Paul may be asking us, how generous are we with our time, talents and treasure?
In the Gospel according to Mark, a Jewish official begs Jesus to heal his dying daughter. And Jesus takes the little girl by the hand and heals her. The power of touch! Think about it. With a touch, we tell people: “I love you; I’m sorry; I don’t know what to say.”
Jesus touches us especially in the sacraments—through water, oil, bread, wine—and in that touch his grace—his life--goes out to us as it did to the little girl. Yes, in the sacraments the living Christ touches us with God’s grace, God’s life. And when we touch others in need, we give life—love, understanding, sympathy—to someone in need. Yes, touch can have healing power.
In the Jewish official and his dying daughter, we witness the mixture of the power of faith, the power of touch and the power of prayer.
I would like to reflect briefly on prayer: a key ingredient in our own life of faith in God.
One spiritual writer compared the stages of prayer to the seven ages of man in Shakespeare. At 20 we pray we will wake up romantic; at 30 we pray we will wake up married; at 40 we pray we will wake up successful; … at 70 we pray we will wake up healthy; and at 80 we pray that we simply will wake up.
So then, what is prayer?
Whether we know it or not, we are already in the presence of God. Prayer simply brings to consciousness the presence of God within ourselves. To pray is to make ourselves available to God so that, when God comes knocking at the door of our heart, so to speak, we are ready to invite him into our lives.
Now there are many methods or pathways or windows into the presence of God. We simply have to find the style of prayer that best suits us. Let me briefly explore some approaches to prayer that I think can enrich our relationship or friendship with God.
Familiar prayers. The Our Father, the Stations of the Cross, the mysteries of the Rosary, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis - - all of these, when pondered slowly, can be passageways into the presence of God. Yes, they can enrich our friendship with God. Above all, this Eucharist, the perfect prayer of the Church, is the primary pathway into the presence of God. In the Eucharist, we encounter in faith the presence of the living Christ sacramentally in the signs of bread and wine.
And there’s the prayer of praise. Praise is the bubbling over of the Spirit within us, taking us out of ourselves and into God’s presence. Francis of Assisi was always singing praises. Witness his The Canticle of the Sun, whose first words begin Pope Francis’s encyclical or letter on the care of our common home, Mother Earth. Francis of Assisi saw God in brother sun, sister moon, wind and fire and water and all creatures. Yes, praise recognizes our fundamental relationship: fragile creatures vis-a-vis an awesome creator. The hymn “All Creatures of our God and King” makes clear all creatures are invited to lift up their voices in praise to God.
A third form of prayer is to take a passage from Scripture and to slowly meditate upon the meaning of that passage. We all have a favorite scripture passage: I am the way, the truth and the life; whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me. Come to me, all you who find life burdensome. What’s your favorite passage? Slowly reflecting on our favorite readings can bring us into the presence of God.
There are many other forms of prayer. The prayer of silence: without any words or images, we quietly feel the presence of God within us. The prayer of petition. Like Christ himself, we should not hesitate to recognize our absolute dependence on God and pray for our daily needs and those of others. There is the prayer of suffering. Jesus is the model for the prayer of suffering. While racked in fear and pain--in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the way to his execution, on the cross itself–Jesus trusted ever more deeply in his Father’s unconditional love for him.
Almost anything we see or experience can be a prayer. Yes, all creatures and all earthly experiences can be pathways or windows into the presence of God who is all around us and within us.
There’s no time like the present. May the example of faith in today’s Gospel inspire us to nurture our own faith with a key ingredient, daily prayer, and may we never forget the power of prayer in our daily lives. In the poetic words of the 19th century British author Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
