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From the Pen of Fr. Tim - 2/18/2024
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From the Pen of Fr. Tim:
The boss, Fr. Maassen, asked me to write an article about what I preached on at the 4:30 pm, 7:00 am, and 9:00 am Masses this past weekend.
On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the Passionists have a special memorial celebrating the Agony in the Garden. This memorial is done – in part – to remind you and I to pray always. The ultimate goal of our lives is Eternal Union – Eternal Life being adopted into the Most Holy Trinity. In some sense, the human example of this goal of Marriage – Union. St. Paul speaks of the similarity between our relationship to God and the Union of Marriage.
Some years ago, I went to Fr. Simon Conrad and Fr. Canice Froelich (may they rest in peace) for Confession – both in the top 10 of the holiest priests I have ever known. Fr. Simon once related to me that if God told him he was going to die and would grant him the chance to preach any last homily he so wished, Fr. Simon would preach a homily on the Empty Chair Prayer. I told Fr. Simon that when he died, he should send his Guardian Angel to tell me, and I would preach his last homily for him. Sadly, this holy man has been gone a long time.
Prayer is about communication and union. Clearly this happens when you and I receive the Most Holy Eucharist – He Who is Truly Present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Even so, Prayer seeks communion with God. St. Teresa of Ávila – the ‘Doctor of Prayer’ – tells us, ‘Prayer is not in thinking much but in loving much.’ Truly, this is what life is about: growing in charity so much so that we become an alter-Christus – another Christ. It is through Christ that we are able to enter into communion with God. The unfortunate reality is that we do not burn with perfect fires of charity as you and I should. And so it is that the greatest of Saints when teaching about prayer call us to mental prayer. St. Alphonsus Liguori –another Doctor of the Church – states, ‘Without mental prayer it is impossible to avoid venial sin.’ Similarly, St. Teresa of Ávila states, ‘Without mental prayer it is impossible to avoid mortal/serious sin.’
So it was that Fr. Simon Conrad taught whoever would listen to him the Empty Chair prayer. It is simple in design. First, remove all distractions: phones, media, ask children that unless something really serious happens to let you pray in quiet.
From there, you can walk and in your mind’s eye let Jesus walk with you, or as Fr. Simon suggests: Jesus is in the chair next to you. And He asks you one simple question: ‘how are you?’ And short of something off the wall like telling Him you intend to sin, I cannot think of any subject off of the table: the joys, sorrows, the good, the bad, the ugly. Nor should you allow any previously sin STOP you from going before our Lord in this Empty Chair Prayer. It is also okay to say, ‘Lord, I am tempted…’ I am tempted to be rude to my enemy; I am tempted to various sexual temptations; I am tired and tempted to skip prayer/Mass/Sacraments. And much like Righteous Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20 [You duped me Lord!], it is okay to take your frustrations to the Lord. Jeremiah 20 is a perfect example of a hissy fit in prayer. Avoid blasphemy [Jeremiah 20 is as close to blasphemy as Sacred Scripture gets], but if you are upset with God, the Empty Chair Prayer is a place to go.
I personally have a background prayer I am praying while communicating with our Lord. This is not necessary in the first part of the prayer. I use either the Eastern Catholic/Orthodox Jesus Prayer [Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me a sinner] or [for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have Mercy on us and on the whole world]. This is particularly useful when our minds start to drift… if my mind drifts, I call myself back by focusing on the words of the prayer.
It is then vital to take a moment and listen for our Lord. Again, I have a ‘listening prayer’: ‘Adoration and Glory belong by right to the Lamb Who was slain.’ That ‘listening prayer’ is a background tapestry to prevent the devil from sneaking into the conversation. And again, if my mind starts to drift, I come back to focus on the words of the prayer. Listening is a huge part of the success of this prayer. In this manner, there will be true conversation with Christ. Know that God does not always answer. But even so, as you pour yourself out to God as you are, and listening to God as ‘God is’, you have conversation. And this simple honest conversation builds intimacy with our God.
Yes, it can be dry; it is a virtue that has need to be developed; it can be a struggle at times. But even when mental prayer/Empty Chair Prayer is dry, it does not mean God’s Grace is not flowing. One other warning: the devil can put distractive thoughts and even highly sinful thoughts into your head or mine simply to frustrate our conversation with Christ. Do not let that stop you; go back to your focus prayer… go back to your questions. The enemy will seek to make himself a menace because ‘the devil knows he has lost a soul committed to mental prayer.’
One of the great beauties of the Empty Chair Prayer is its scalability. You can pray it for 5 minutes with 2 minutes of listening; you can pray it for a longer. There are days it could be 30 minutes, and there can be days when you are so tired you say, ‘Lord, I have got 4 minutes and I am out of here.’ Whatever it is: keep with the habit. This is also why I was not afraid to teach it to our 5th – 8th Graders: they can pray the Empty Chair Prayer according to their abilities at whatever age.One final thing: remember to say thank you even if you are upset.
Great conversations with Christ can begin with one simple question: how are you?
Let us be careful out there.
Fr. Tim
