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Our
Sunday morning Prayer Team was meeting in the small chapel in the Christian
Living Center where there used to be a convent many years ago, on the grounds of
Saint Helen Parish, where we worship. After we had prayed with some people, we
were talking about God's Love. And we were talking about the gift of
contemplation, an inner life with Jesus. And I thought, really out loud, how
great it would be if I could somehow tell the Faithful about the special Grace of
such a gift, for it is a very rich gift. In the old days, when most Catholics
went to Church daily, the "Inner Life," or, "The Life of the Soul," were terms
more frequently heard. But now, when statistics tell us that only 28% of
Catholics come to Church, some of the mystique has left. Our Church is one of
mysteries, since most tenets of the Faith are just that, faith. We believe. We do
not question.
 In order to
discuss contemplation or an inner-life relationship with Jesus, I've
incorporated a set of eight papers written when I was a monk with the Monks of
Adoration, and slightly adapted these for the purpose of this reflection.
Interior or contemplative prayer is an intimate prayer life with Jesus, with
God, with the Holy Trinity. Despite the notion that such a life state is only
for devout monks, friars and nuns, God in His infinite love beckons all people
to have an interior life with Him. In discussing this topic with you, I want to
credit the late Bishop, Dr. Joseph Gross who lived in Germany from 1866 to 1931
and while Bishop of Leitmeritz made many visits to religious orders of
contemplative sisters. After his death, friends of the Bishop gathered together
his notes and carefully wrote down the conferences with the sisters and all this
was published in the United States at the start of the Second World War in a
book called, “Tantum Ergo Sacramentum.” This book, published by Bruce Publishing
Company [then] of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, seems to be in the public domain since
it has no copyright notice in it. What it, fortunately, does have, is a Nihil
Obstat and an Imprimatur. This reflection will frequently quote passages from
this book and thus unless otherwise noted quotations will be from this
particular book.
The book is
subtitled, “The Radiance of the Holy Eucharist in the Religious Life.” It is
quite clear that Bishop Gross had an extraordinary devotion to Jesus Christ in
the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. “When we are called upon to speak of the
Holy Eucharist, our Divine Lord’s greatest act of love and the sublimest of
Mysteries, it would be more fitting to fall upon our knees in humble prayer than
to attempt to put our thoughts into words.” Jesus outdid Himself in proving His
Divine love for us, His love that has no limit, by the institution of the Most
Holy Sacrament of the Mass. We have now the opportunity by a gift of God, to
form an intimate relationship with Him. It is difficult for me to conceive such
an intimate friendship given the current state of the world; the relationship
we’re trying to form is similar to that of the most “tenderest mother and the
most loving child,” as Bishop Gross defines the relationship between the human
heart and Almighty God.
“Jesus is really,
truly, actually present in the Blessed Sacrament, in Body, Blood, Soul and
Divinity. He is really present — not in the sense that your dead father is with
you when you look so affectionately at his photograph. That is merely a
representation of him. Jesus is not with us in this fashion. The consecrated
elements do not merely represent Him: they are His actual Body and Blood.” Jesus
is present to us in the tabernacle of every Catholic Church and in all friaries,
monasteries, convents and cloisters, where He is kept. He is there to “appease
His own Heart’s love for us as our Friend, Counselor and Teacher.” He is there
to support us in our sadness too. In Holy Scripture Jesus talks to the Father —
“That your prayer may be made acceptable to God.” This is a key statement for
Jesus is the greatest intercessor of all time — in our intimate prayer life with
God the Father.
The charism of the
Monks of Adoration, is to pray, work and suffer for the purpose of repairing
(make reparation) the many acts of abuse, negligence and abandonment of the
Blessed Sacrament. If we love Jesus deeply, we should all pray that there will
be less abuse, and out visits to the Church to visit Jesus will help lessen His
abandonment. “Our Lord foresaw all this negligence and indifference. He bore the
knowledge in silence, as He bears it today. Secretly and humbly as He came down
to earth long ago, just so quietly and unassuming He descends upon our altars.
He does not come sternly demanding a large congregation.” Even if no more than
two or three are gathered in His Name, He is among you and He is there silently.
So unite yourselves with Him each day at the Sacred Mysteries.
Some may have asked
“Wasn’t Calvary enough? Why then have a Sacrifice of the Mass? First of all,
Holy Mass is to make us remember Jesus as He instituted the Blessed Sacrament of
the Altar the night before He died. Secondly, in Jesus’ heavenly existence there
is no time limitation; there is no time because He IS – He is always present
this minute, this second, into eternity. Therefore, a prayer will be answered
now or later but not at a specific time. An act of penance, an opportunity for
humiliation patiently borne by us could be a reparation for the neglect of
someone who lived 2000 years ago, or it can be that for one who is yet to be
born. So also, we can pray “after the act we’re praying for has already
occurred,” call it “retroactive prayer” or whatever you will. And the person for
whom you are praying may already have been healed before you pray. So, yes, in
our prayer we come to assist Jesus in redeeming mankind, we make up what was
lacking in His suffering on the Cross. Given the state of the World in the 21st
Century, we not only can but must assist Jesus in bearing His Cross because His
Cross is our Cross!
An interior life is
a life of prayer of intimate union, of bearing His Cross, too. It is almost a
child-like relationship, for the love of a child is pure; it is without guile or
conditions. That’s how God loves us and how He teaches we should love Him. If you
desire to have this close inner life with Jesus, the Liturgy of the Mass and, if
possible, daily reception of Holy Communion must be central to your way of life. This inner life
is not something you learn or get by practicing. An inner life is a gift from
God, but we can prepare ourselves to be open to totally trusting God with
everything. And by totally abandoning ourselves and our lives to Him.
Among the laity, Secular
Franciscans and members of other secular institutes who receive Jesus daily, and
who are active in the life of the Church, should think about cultivating this special friendship.
This
special friendship is not easy. The last thing the devil wants is another
contemplative, another close friend of Jesus. And the devil will battle you to
convince you that life with him is sweeter. You've got to be strong, determined,
and after some time, you will find that Jesus is open to the idea of giving you
a contemplative prayer life, and then the suffering will die down for you.
In order to
cultivate this relationship with Jesus, we must get to know Him even better.
Frequent oral and mental prayer should be a part of your day. I claim Jesus as
my brother and friend not only passively but actively. This whole website is an
example of that, and I can assure you I spend many hours working at it, to make
it better, evangelize my Roman Catholic Faith in all of its dimensions and also
try to publish a product that reaches people of other faiths and backgrounds.
The
underlying theme of this website, hopefully evident by now, is God's miraculous
love and the healing that is possible both physically, mentally and spiritually
for those who seek Him out!
When we attend
Holy Mass we should not only be physically there but mentally as well. “You
must assist at [Holy Mass] with enlightened belief, like that of the
Apostles,” writes Bishop Gross. It
takes faith and “faith is the only power to which the omnipotence of
God itself can yield.” Faith is shown often by the amount of recollection we
practice, by that interior quiet. Distractions present themselves but if we
possess interior quiet then we do not pay attention to them. We should attend
Holy Mass with great respect but there should also be great joy “because it is
the source of immeasurable graces.” Before entering the church or chapel stop
for a moment or two and consider why and for whom you are entering the house
of God. Say to yourself: ‘The service of God is the holiest service one can
offer. Rouse yourself then, O my Soul, to the warmest acts of praise, love,
faith and reparation you can possibly make.’” Then as we enter chapel or
church, our whole demeanor, the custody of ears and eyes (for example), should
be under control. And when you see your friend Charlie, do not start a
conversation because when we talk we are distracted from, perhaps, that quiet
whisper of the voice of God! “Empty and false are the words of their mouth;
they have ceased to be wise and do good” (Ps. 36:4)
So we’ve touched on recollection
and readiness. Many people complain that they “don’t get anything out of the
Mass.” Well, they dashed into their parish church without the slightest
thought of whom they are visiting and talked about all sorts of sundry things
with various people they met on the way in. Then when Holy Mass begins they
cannot shut off their thinking about all they talked about and most likely
they will miss a good part of the Mass, and most tragically, they will not
hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. The same thought occurs at Communion time.
One wonders if all people prepare their thoughts to welcome Jesus, if they
realize whom they are receiving.
For those making their ascent to
interior prayer, attending Holy Mass and receiving the Holy Eucharist is
paramount as their most important goal is to be open to an intimate
relationship with Jesus. Of course, where making a living, a job, prevents one
from attending Mass on a daily basis this cannot be helped. “You must bring a
living faith to the Sacrament and be absolutely filled with it. It is
imperative to awaken this faith in yourself,” writes Bishop Gross, “even if
you have to do so over and over again, as long, indeed, as it may take to
enable you to realize the living presence of Christ as clearly as if you had
Him before your bodily eyes. Make this effort repeatedly. Only when you really
grasp this truth can you rightly steep yourselves in prayer.” When we exercise
this faith over and over again, we begin to see that Jesus desires us to
relate with Him. Then one can truly say, “The rich have their great earthly
possessions, kings their vast domains, but I have you — you who are all this
and a thousand times more to Me.” While all this is the focus of our interior
prayer, don’t forget to ask Our Blessed Mother to teach us how to pray and to
teach us how to love Jesus as she does. Lastly, say many times each day,
“Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like onto Thine.”
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