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The prayer that we breathe

On the Readings for Sunday, October 16, 2022.

(us.fotolia.com/ ZoneCreative)

Readings:
• Ex 17:8-13
• Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
• 2 Tm 3:14-4:2
• Lk 18:1-8

How long can any of us live without air? A few minutes at best? How long can we live spiritually without prayer? Frankly, I often take prayer for granted. But I doubt that I’m alone in that regard. Just as air goes unnoticed until it is absent, prayer can, inversely, sometimes be absent until we suddenly find ourselves in a crisis that leaves us gasping for spiritual air.

Today’s readings, as different as they are from each other, highlight two aspects of prayer that are, paradoxically, often overlooked and yet are readily obvious to all of us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers directly to these two qualities:

“Before confronting his elder brother Esau, Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious figure who refuses to reveal his name, but he blesses him before leaving him at dawn. From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of perseverance.” (par. 2573).

Prayer, then, is both a battle of faith and the triumph of perseverance. We usually don’t think of prayer in these terms because, I think, we often envision prayer as having to be serene and peaceful, a smooth path of communication between God and ourselves. Yet, on the other hand, we all know that prayer often is a battle; it is a struggle against our natural inclination to not pray if we “don’t feel like it.” And prayer can also reveal to us the grim reality of spiritual warfare. This battle, the Catechism insightfully points out, shows us that “Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce from life.” Rather, just as the life and letters of Mother Teresa demonstrate, “our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness…” (par. 2728).

Today’s first reading, from the book of Exodus, provides a dramatic example of prayer as a battle and a victory of perseverance. The passage describes the Israelites being attacked by the Amalekites, who were descendants of Jacob’s brother, Esau. Moses takes up the staff of God, which had been used previously to defeat the Pharoah, and stands on a hill, with hands raised, overlooking the battle. The word “prayer” doesn’t appear, but clearly Moses, the God-chosen leader of the Israelites, is upholding his embattled people in prayer and, when he tires, is helped by the high priest, his brother Aaron.

Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho, interpreted Moses’ actions as a foreshadowing of the sign of the Cross, and John Chrysostom took up this same image, writing, “But Christ, when he came, himself held his hands extended on the cross by his own power.”

Both Jesus, in today’s Gospel, and Paul, in the epistle, talk about perseverance in prayer and faith. The Apostle to the Gentiles exhorted Timothy, his surrogate son in the Faith, to “remain faithful to what you have learned and believed” and then solemnly charged him to “proclaim the word” and “be persistent.” What we believe and what we pray are intimately connected, as expressed in the ancient statement, lex orandi, lex credendi—“ The law of prayer is the law of faith” (cf., CCC 1124). Perseverance in faith is perseverance in prayer.

In Luke 17, read the past few Sundays, Jesus spoke about faith, indicating that the apostles possessed little of it. In Luke 18, Jesus is described as telling His disciples “about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” The parable He told was rather humorous—a dishonest judge gives in to the rightful demands of a widow because he fears she will beat him up. But the point is just as serious: true faith and authentic prayer are persevering in nature.

Prayer is often difficult because it is part of a battle. Praise God, that battle has been won on the Cross by the Son of Man. May we persevere in faith and prayer, so we might see Him face to face.

(This “Opening the Word” column originally appeared in the October 21, 2007, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)


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About Carl E. Olson 1229 Articles
Carl E. Olson is editor of Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight. He is the author of Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?, Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"?, co-editor/contributor to Called To Be the Children of God, co-author of The Da Vinci Hoax (Ignatius), and author of the "Catholicism" and "Priest Prophet King" Study Guides for Bishop Robert Barron/Word on Fire. His recent books on Lent and Advent—Praying the Our Father in Lent (2021) and Prepare the Way of the Lord (2021)—are published by Catholic Truth Society. He is also a contributor to "Our Sunday Visitor" newspaper, "The Catholic Answer" magazine, "The Imaginative Conservative", "The Catholic Herald", "National Catholic Register", "Chronicles", and other publications. Follow him on Twitter @carleolson.

3 Comments

  1. We could describe prayer in these words “Stay awake”

    ”Today’s first reading, from the book of Exodus, provides a dramatic example of prayer as a battle and a victory of perseverance. The passage describes the Israelites being attacked by the Amalekites”

    If we transfer this statement to our present time, the Amalekites could be described as the enemy of the children of God. We need to be aware of the subtleties of the servants of the Evil One. In my post via the link; we see an attack upon the ‘uplifting’ Our Father prayer.

    ‘Stay awake’and lift up your hearts, or “let the dead bury the dead” as we lose the spiritual battle.

    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/10/16/historical-clarity-and-todays-catholic-contentions/#comment-157670

    kevin your brother
    In Christ?

  2. Love of God of his good of his merciful love all that indicates his unfathomable essence is the very purpose of our creation. To participate in the happiness God experiences within himself. Contemplation the highest form of prayer is revealed in silent moments and in a continuous life of divinely manifest love. For the contemplative St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi all identified with the Crucified Christ because in that willingness to suffer the Cross becoming one with him in the most pure expression of love that draws grace for conversion of sinners and salvation of their souls – there is no greater manifestation of love for our fellow man consequently for God. To Lay down our life for them exactly as did Jesus.

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