The Mother prays and loves
Dear friend the secret of a live harmonized in God, is knowing how to combine action and prayer. Both are two side of the same coin.
Mother and Son show us this, with their own lives.
The mission God required us must be understood in the prayer. God also reveals his command and also the light for we can recognize; moreover, the strength to carry out his will. All of these will be clarified in our prayer.
Stop your activity now, so that when you resume it, you will be more prepared and most convinced what you must do and, the most important, what attitude you should adopt in the challenges life presents to you.
I invite you to start saying:
Holy Spirit, at this moment, I pause to breathe calmly, feeling I am alive. Your peace, surround me through a deep and serene breathing.
Now I close my eyes, but I am very attentive and aware…. and… I thank you for the gift of life. I want to live every moment as full as I can; as if it were the last of my life… with my mind wide awake to discover your presence in me and in everything around me.
I only need to know that, in this moment, you are with me. It is always like this, but in these moments I pause to become more aware of it… leaving that in the silence and secrecy of my heart.
It seems to me that you are not there. Since we cannot see your Face.
¡ Yes, you are there!
Your rays burst in all directions. You are the Hidden Presence.
Oh presence always hidden and always clear. Oh fascinating Mystery towards which every aspiration focuses. Oh Sweet Wine that satisfies all desires. Oh Unfathomable Infinite and Closest of all. Your substance dwells in my entire being.
You bestow existence and constancy upon me.
You penetrate me. You surround me. You love me.
You are around me and in me.
With your active Presence, You reach the remotest and deepest zones of my intimacy. You are the soul of my soul, the life of my life, more me than I myself, total and totalizing reality, in the midst of which I am submerged.
With your life-giving force, You penetrate all that I am, all that I have.
Take me entirely, All of my all, and make me a living transparency of your Being and of your Love, Oh most beloved Father!
Calmly return to some of the phrases in this prayer and repeat them to internalize them and make them come alive in you.
In the following passage from the Book of Kings, a theophany is presented; or in other words, an experience of God’s presence. Put yourself in the place of the Elijah Prophet, and feel that you yourself are standing before God.
God said to Elijah: “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord” And behold, the Lord was passing by.
There was a violent hurricane that split the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the hurricane.
After the hurricane, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake, there was fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
After the fire, the whisper of a gentle breeze. Hearing it, Elijah covered his face with his cloak, went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave.
(I Kings 19:11-13)
After a dialogue between Elijah and God, God ends by telling him: “Go and return to the path”. After experiencing God as a gentle whisper and receiving peace, Elijah, after an experience of a stormy and hurricane-like spirit, hears clearly what he must do: anoint Elisha as his successor and Jehu as king of Israel.
Another closer and more familiar experience. In it, we see Mary recollected, and how the angel sent by God enters her to reveals his plans:
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. He came in and said to her: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you”. She was troubled by these words and wondered what this greeting might mean. The angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David. He will reign over the House of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:26-40)
What did Mary say after this announcement and after giving her some more well-known details? : “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to his word”
And Mary, after hearing this, took action: She set out on a long journey, traveling to Aim Karim to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was already six months pregnant. She stayed with her until she gave birth to Jon the Baptist.
Dear friend, here you can see two experiences in which God, through prayer, communicates his plans.
And you? What do you sense God communicates to you in his gentle and loving presence?
At praying, it is much better staying listening in silence than talking a lot.
God gives us peace, but he sets us on a journey… He doesn’t leave us in peace… He sends us back to follow his Son.
Read the following prayer with a sincere and open heart:
I know You are asking something from me, Lord Jesus.
So many doors open at once.
My life is before my eyes, not as in a dream.
I know You expect something of me, Lord, and there I am at the foot of the wall: everything is open, there is only one free road, open to the infinite, to the absolute.
But in spite of everything, I have not changed.
I need to be in touch with You.
I will still seek You, Lord, for a long time.
Then, to die, but this time totally.
Like those wounded who suffer, Lord, I ask you to put an end to my struggle. I am tired of not belonging to You, of not being You.
Stay listening as long as you can… Don’t reason anything, just remain silent in His presence and let the prayer sink into you, and after giving thanks, continue with your life, certain that you will act more in accordance with God’s will.
Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, and glory to the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
Shalom, Shalom