Fr. Maassen's Message - 09/03/2023

Somewhere in the fog of my memories, I've read that the words "I need" are powerful when used in conversation. People are motivated by these words. My take on this? We often say "need," but we desire. I need a break. You want a break. A break would be good, but you don't need it. I need a beer. No, you don't. I need a cup of coffee. Not really. You may get a headache, but you don't need the coffee.

So, here's the question: do you and I need to pray?  "Prayer is a vital necessity," and in the next paragraph, "Prayer and Christian life are inseparable... " (CCC 2744, 2745)  If you want to live the life God has created for you and live according to your purpose, if you want to follow Christ, then yes, prayer is necessary.

There are three significant expressions of prayer in our faith:

· vocal prayer
· meditation
· contemplation

These expressions are like breathing, eating, and resting, essential expressions of our life. Vocal prayer is "founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of prayer to his Father and teaching the 'Our Father' to his disciples." (CCC 2722)  Saint Paul encourages us to pray without ceasing. We also breathe without stopping, but often we breathe without being conscious of it. We often pray vocally without being aware of it. The challenge is to engage our words with honesty and thought so we don't just pray by memory alone.

When we meditate, we are, in a sense chewing on something. When we meditate, we engage thought, imagination, and desire. We eat for the nourishment of our body, as meditation nourishes our souls. At times we enjoy eating, just as we want reflection. Hopefully, what we meditate on becomes part of us, just as the food we eat becomes part of our body.

Contemplation I see as rest in the Lord. I don't mean to fall asleep (although, at times, I do fall asleep in prayer).  "It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love." (CCC 2724)