We Always Think We Have More Time to Learn How to Pray

ME

This has been a rough week for me and my family. My brother in law died last weekend unexpectedly. He was only 53, no known health conditions, no warnings. 

He went to work that morning and a few hours later he fell on the ground. His co-workers called 911, got to the hospital and a few hours later he was not with us anymore. He passed that morning in the hospital. 

Alan's death has shocked the entire family. 

In talking to my wife about Alan’s death this week she said:

“We always think we have more time.”

We just don’t think that our life could end suddenly. This  internal discourse in our head often leads us to postpone even the best of our intentions. For example postponing the intention to become a better Christian a better person before God.

YOU

Does this ever happen to you? Do you find yourself postponing some of your intentions to become a better person before God? Maybe to really dive deeper in getting to know scriptures.

Or to get to know how we ought to pray?

GOD

In today’s gospel Jesus wants to teach us just this. How to pray. Because we can do it wrong really easily. Even the Pharisee, a man of God, who dedicated his life to God, got it wrong.

The Catechism 2559 tells us in beautifully clear words what it means to pray:

"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."

And if we stop here both the Pharisee and the tax collector are doing it right. They both start with “O God, …” 

But there is more. 

The Catechism continues giving us more insight:

But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? 

[...] humility is the foundation of prayer, [...] "Man is a beggar before God.

From these lines in the catechism we understand that the Pharisee was not praying. He was speaking from a prideful position, a position of superiority. 

The tax collector was praying correctly, because he was praying out of his poverty, out of his brokenness. Jesus invites us to humble ourselves enough to name our specific poverty and to raise it to God. This is praying. Jesus tell us that this is the path to Heaven.

This is not an easy task to do. 

In my experience I know I cannot get there by myself.  

Becoming a better Christian, a better person before God is founded on four pillars: Worship, praying, doing charity and growing in moral life.

And even if I have the best intentions to do so I need to have a plan otherwise God will remain in the background.

One plan we can put in place to learn how to pray is to get involved in charity work, not just giving money but joining the ministries. It is in getting to know other people, how God is working in their life, what they raise up to God in their prayers that help us to learn how to pray. We can learn how to raise our poverty to God. We don’t get there by ourselves, we need the people in the Body of Christ to help us. And the Body of Christ needs us.

The risk is that we ended up like the Pharisee, who had the intention to pray when he went to the temple but he was not able to pray. 

Jesus tells us that he was praying to himself. He was self-righteous.

And when this happens we are not able to be good disciples to others. We separate ourselves from the body of Christ. And we are unable to help others.

YOU

In our lifetime we will most likely be facing situations when people need us at their lowest points. It might be our son, daughter, or a loved one who has drifted away and returned to us.

In what spirit do you want to encounter your daughter, son, loved one at their lowest point? In the spirit of the Pharisee or in the spirit of the tax collector? Would they be able to see you in your poverty or would they see a fake mask of perfection and righteousness?

WE

In a few minutes we will receive the Eucharist, the source of all grace. When you go back to your pew take a few moments to pray, to ask for the grace and strength to be able to raise to God your poverty, your brokenness, like the tax collector “Oh God, Be merciful to me a sinner.” 

The goal is to learn to pray like this habitually so that we can be ready to help others at any given time. This is what Jesus meant asking us “to pray always without becoming weary”

Imagine the difference we will be able to make in our community if we could always pray like the tax collector habitually

Remember: “We always think we have more time.”