Tuesday of the First Week of Lent 2011

Saint Francis
before the Chapel
at Mount Saint Francis

When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,

and from all their distress he rescues them.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

In today’s first reading the Prophet Isaiah assures us, it is impossible that God’s word will not be effective. That is a basic doctrine of the Hebrew faith, one which we have inherited from our Jewish ancestors:

Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth…

Nor, for that matter, can our prayers go unanswered. If they seem unanswered at times it may be because we lack the imagination – or faith – to see them answered in God’s time.

God has given us the Spirit of Prayer. That Spirit is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Blessed Trinity, who moves in our hearts. As Saint Paul said:

… the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will. We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

With the assurance that our prayers are always heard and always effective, we ask the Lord, “Teach us to pray.” Again we find instruction in the scripture. We must begin with the right attitude:  

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

Praying in the Spirit with those who are broken-hearted and crushed in spirit, we can approach the Throne of Mercy with great confidence.

If I don’t feel broken-hearted or crushed in spirit today, I remember that many of the church are, and have been. I remember the centuries of sorrow recorded in the Hebrew scriptures. I remember that Jesus was crushed in spirit and broken-hearted on that terrible day of his death. And I remember the suffering of the Church, still sinful, still faithful, still en route to the Father. 

Effective prayer is not about me. It’s about us, the Church of the past, present and future. Beyond that, it’s about all humankind and the very earth in which we live. The Holy Spirit moving in each of us gathers our prayers into the “groanings” of the entire universe. And, when my own groaning is overwhelming, I feel the companionship of all the saints in prayer. 

Finally, in today’s readings, we ask Jesus to give us the words of prayer. The “Our Father” as Catholics call it, or “The Lord’s Prayer” as Protestants know it, is an enormous treasure. And it’s far beyond the scope of this brief homily to reflect on its dimensions. In these two thousand years, it seems every Christian who could put pen to paper has written about it.

As English-speaking Catholics prepare for a new translation of the Mass, to be inaugurated later this year, we consider the enormous privilege Christians have been given to pray. “We dare to say ‘Our Father.…” The new translation reemphasizes the dignity of God, who is all mighty, all wise, all good, all merciful, all just.

Who am I to ask anything of God? And yet we do ask God, led into his presence by our Brother Jesus, as confident as children before their papa….