February 8, 2021
Editor’s note: This reflection was originally published on Fr. Mark-David’s Facebook page.
“Rising early the next morning, Jesus went to a lonely place, and there he was absorbed in prayer.”
No matter who you are, or what you do,
Life is a little too much sometimes.
Even good things overwhelm us.
Not to mention the bad things that drain us.
Big pains, even little pains, stress us.
Fighting aches, pains, disappointments, bleeds us.
Loneliness, depression, anxiety, exhausts us.
Meeting the demands of the day
Meeting the expectations of others is bad enough,
Meeting our own expectations, is relentless.
Human beings, even if you are Jesus, can only take so much.
Like Jesus we need to get away,
To a place where noise can’t get at us,
To a place with enough space, so we can be ourselves.
This is the place of prayer
Where Jesus often goes to be absorbed
By the God who loves him for nothing
No demands made, no questions asked, no explanations necessary.
Nothing, but cool, crisp, air breathing love into our lungs.
God is not in charge of what people want from you.
God is not in charge of what people do to you.
God is not in charge of what we do to ourselves.
God can do something about loving you,
if we give God a chance to do it.
Prayer is letting God love you.
Prayer is reminding yourself of the love you are.
There are lots of way to pray.
Lots of different words, postures, procedures.
Some of us pray best when absorbed in music.
Some when absorbed in play.
Some are best absorbed together-with others
in ritual-words-actions-sacraments.
Some use flickering candles, sweet incense, dark echoes.
Some sacred places are inside, some outside,
Some places familiar, some surprises.
Whatever it is for you, whatever is working now,
Like Jesus, seize the time to slip away
be absorbed, absorbed in the God of life, your life.
It needn’t be long, sometimes it can’t be.
Jesus was interrupted by disciple’s expectations,
Others will interrupt you.
If you haven’t a prayer that works, try this:
for two minutes a day, two minutes,
alone, in the shower if need be.
For two minutes, breath the air that gives you life.
Feel yourself inhaling God’s gift of life,
Life intended for you.
Breathe out, slowly, filling the world with your life,
The breath you return to God, your life, your gift to God.
Inhaling, exhaling, your dance with God,
life given-life returned,
no strings attached, free of charge.
Brothers and sisters, we need to hang on to those moments,
Those dances with God who remind us who we are
For soon the day begins,
A day mostly out of our control, a day exhausted by our control
A day whose efforts, good or bad,
drain us of the memory of who we are.
When we have lost that memory,
when we no longer recognize ourselves,
Like Jesus, go to your lonely place, where, absorbed in prayer
You allow yourself to be absorbed in the God of life and love. Amen.
Paulist Fr. Mark David Janus is president of Paulist Press.