Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, I do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.
A rationalistic world sees little use for prayer, especially the prayer of intercession. They ask, "How can the prayers I mutter in private -- or, for that matter, your "general intercessions" during the Mass -- make any difference in the real world?
Certainly there can be no scientific explanation of cause and effect unless one includes the science of theology, which our skeptics dismissed a long time ago.
Nor would I venture a pseudo-scientific explanation with spiritual energies, vibrations and auras. Any true scientist will admit the limits of his science and not hector religious faith with demands for a "scientific explanation." The imagination which limits itself to the scientifically explainable suffers severe disability in the real world where most people live.
The religious person readily offers prayers for her family, friends, enemies and church because her heart is moved to prayer, not because she expects to see results.
In today's reading Saint Paul assures his Ephesian disciples that he prays for them continually. Although he is physically far from them he remains very close to them in his heart. There is no distance there. Nor is he far from them; especially because they had heard he was incarcerated they prayed with great intensity for him.
The faithful friend has no need to explain or apologize for her concern. She carries the loved one in her heart and both abide confidently in the heart of God. If they are far apart, when they meet again they will know they were never actually removed from each other. There is no distance in the heart of God.
In his letter to the Ephesians Saint Paul prays that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, resulting in knowledge of him.
Again, that knowledge is not an accumulation of facts about God. Facts are only man-made objects, (from the Latin word facere, as in manufacture). There are no facts about God, but there is a very intense, penetrating knowledge of God which is granted to the disciple of Jesus. This knowledge is the Holy Spirit which inspires, motivates and animates our lives. That Spirit is described in Jewish theology with Shekina, the glory of the divine presence.
Facts are cold objects, handled, manipulated, created, amassed, hurled as weapons, ignored, proven, disproven, and ultimately forgotten. They bear no resemblance to the Knowledge of God who is the Spirit of Jesus abiding and stirring always within our communion and our individual hearts. The Spirit prompts us to pray for one another, to carry one another in our hearts, day and night without ceasing.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.