INNER PRAYER
The title of my homily for this Sixth Sunday of Easter C, is,
“Inner Prayer.”
We know outside prayer: the Our Father, a Hail Mary, the “Lord,
Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” prayer, the Grace before meals prayer:
“Bless us O Lord and these your gifts which we are about to receive from your
bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen.” We know the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the
serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I
can; and wisdom to know the difference.” We know the public "outside" prayers of the Mass. We know famous prayers, public
prayers, the prayers of other’s - but today I want to reflect upon inner prayer
- or quiet prayer, silent prayer, secret prayer, or thinking to oneself
prayer….
WHY THIS TOPIC - WHY THIS THEME?
To be transparent, I chose this topic because I found
today’s readings are tough readings to get a clear and practical and helpful topic
and theme to preach about.
Because of that I chose this topic and theme of inner prayer
by default, because when reading surveys
on what people want to hear more about from the pulpit and in Spiritual Reading - I
often spot people’s call for more on prayer.
One of my favorite scenes in the gospels is Luke 11: 1-13 -
when the disciples of Jesus say to him: “Lord, teach us how to pray, just as
John taught his disciples.” They want more on prayer. This is the year or Luke
so we’ll hear that Gospel on the weekend of July 28th. I don’t
repeat homilies - and I also assume you’ll forget what I’m preaching on today
by 2 PM - if not sooner. Smile.
In the meanwhile, from time to time we’re like the disciples.
We ask Jesus to teach us how to pray. And
Jesus teaches his disciples the Our Father prayer.
That’s a good place to begin inner prayer. It’s the first
Christian prayer that missionaries translate into a new language. It’s the
prayer that everyone knows. It can be said with all Christians - it brings us
together in prayer. We’ve all been with
families who stand around the dinner table hold handing hands saying the Our
Father together. Some families stand together in the evening - and say the Our
Father before the youngest goes to bed. I’ve been at the bedside of many a
person dying - with the family around the bed - at home - or Mandarin House -
or the hospital - and we’re holding
hands and saying the Our Father together. It’s a very natural thing to do.
I’ve noticed in nursing homes the following: I’m all alone
with a person who is really out of it.
Someone in the family called and asked me to visit someone. So I say the
Our Father out loud. Sometimes when I do this, I see the person’s lips moving.
In fact I learned that the last two things people can say when they can’t say
anything else, it’s the Our Father and
they join in when they hear someone singing, “Happy Birthday.”
The Our Father is basic. We all have it memorized. Hopefully
we’ve all taken it apart in inwardly - in inner prayer and reflection. It’s a prayer for life’s
essentials: daily bread for all, forgiveness for all - to forgive and be
forgiven of when we trespassed or stepped over the boundaries with others or
others have hurt us - and especially being able to say to God our Father, “Thy
Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Oh my God, don’t we
want it - our way - every day?
In Luke 11 - after teaching his disciples the Our Father, Jesus
then goes deeper with teaching his disciples how to pray. He tells us nag God, beg God, scream out in
the night at God’s windows for help. Jesus asks us to ask, and seek, and knock
on God’s door and God will give us bread, not stones, fish, not snakes, eggs
not scorpions.
The title of my homily is, “Inner Prayer” - to reflect upon
others prayers and our inner prayers - inside our mind - inside our home. Inner
Prayer.
YESTERDAY - TWO FIRST COMMUNIONS AND A WEDDING
Yesterday I went to both First Communion Masses at St. John Neumann Church
- one at 9 AM and the other at 12. And I had a wedding at 3 PM.
The church was packed, packed, with extra seats added in the
back for the First Communions at St. John Neumann and fairly filled for the
wedding.
At the First Communions I was off to the side - very happy
that our pastor, Father Tizio and Deacon Leroy Moore were up front. Father Tiz
is the best I’ve seen yet preaching to kids - and if you can reach the kids,
you can reach their parents and grandparents - who had filled the church.
I had time to just sit there. We were up front - but off to
the side - and I could see faces - lots and lots of faces. And I like to look
at faces and pray for that person. I also like to imagine and wonder what is
going on in other people’s minds and hearts.
If I don’t know the face, I pray if they are not church
goers, they will reconsider. I pray if they have been hurt by life or church or
others, they will forgive and be forgiven. I pray that they will look at their
children and grandchildren and be grateful for this gift of life - saying to
themselves, “It’s all worth it.”
At weddings I figure parents are making a review of their
kids’ whole life - the curses and the
blessings, the good times and the bad, the sickness and the health. I figure
they are thanking God in inner prayer. I sometimes hear them saying, “It’s
about time.” Or “Help these two, O Lord, help them.” I can sometimes hear them
saying, “Make us grandparents. Make us grandparents!” And I can hear grandparents
thinking, “Thank you Lord, for the grace to be here at this moment.”
Inner prayer.
I think all of us wonder what others are thinking - and
talking to themselves about. In this homily I want to stress the prayer in what
we’re inwardly thinking and praying about. So listen to your inner prayers -
they will tell you a lot about you.
CONCLUSION; TODAYS
3 READINGS
Moving towards a conclusion - let me use today’s three
readings.
Today’s first reading again this week is from the Acts of the Apostles tell us about
debate and dissension in the early church. So what else is new.
It’s always something. Every family, every work place, every
organization has debate and dissension. Inner prayer calls us to talk to each
other and to pray to the Holy Spirit for help - as we see Paul and Barnabas and
the early church doing.
Today’s second reading again this week if from the Book of
Revelation. It pictures a great revelation of Jerusalem
- the Holy City - one of the images of Heaven - in
splendor. It pictures glittering gates and walls with sacred graffiti on them:
the names of the 12 apostles.
Using imagination to tie this into my theme for today. Early in the gospels we
hear Jesus talk about our inner room - where we pray to the Father in quiet. I
know myself and my life - at times I’ve rarely visited that inner room. I like
to think by the time I hit heaven, please God - all the walls are down, all the
doors are open - and that inner room is filled with all God’s people - because
that’s heaven, that’s happiness - union with all people and with our God.
Today’s gospel from John speaks especially to inner or
inside prayer - because if we read the gospels - Jesus seems to always be in
communion with his Father - in prayer. We see him trying to find time and space
- to be with his Father in prayer - and he keeps on being interrupted by the
needs of people - but it’s this union, communion, connection with his father -
that gets him to reach out to be in communion with all people. Amen.
