Prayer

The one thing to pray for.

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If you could ask God one question, what would you ask? So many different ways to answer that question. Some people want to know the answers to big, public mysteries, “Who killed Kennedy?” Or “Is Big Foot real?” Others might want to know about personal things like, “Is my dog in heaven?” Or “What if I had married my high school crush?” Still others might want to know about the future, “What will life be like in 2122?” Or “Will the Vikings ever be good at football?” 

Another related question is, “If Jesus could pray for one thing for you, what would it be?” How we answer this question probably says a lot about who we are and what we value. 

In the gospel this Sunday, we have at least one answer to this question. In the gospel Jesus does pray for you. At the end of a long speech (we call the Farewell Discourse), Jesus prays for his disciples and all those who believe because of the words of the disciples. If you believe in Jesus, then Jesus prayed for you.

What did Jesus pray for? Jesus prayed that all believers may be one. He prayed that all believers may be unified in the same way that Jesus and God the Father are one. Jesus prayed that all those in the world might believe that God the Father sent Jesus. 

On the one hand, maybe we could think of more practical or universal prayers, maybe you think you can craft a better prayer than Jesus, but probably not. So why does Jesus pray for this particular thing for the Church?

In our time and place, in the the culture and in the state of not-so-civl society in which we live, maybe prayers for unity is exactly what we need. It would seem that disunity and rampant discord exist outside and inside the Church. I don’t know about you, but it feels like the whole world is playing for different teams. Even within the Church, contention seems to rule the day.

As bad as things seem in this way right now, this isn’t a new phenomenon. A quick glance at the history of the Church (and humanity for that matter), shows a whole lot of disunity over the years.

I think this prayer for unity and belief is exactly what we, the Church, have always needed. The devil seeks to separate us and sow seeds of distrust and relational chaos. From the very beginning of the Church you can read of spats and disagreements (read Acts for a full run down). But by the Holy Spirit disagreements turned into unity and shared joy. 

And I think there is a clue in the early Church for us today. The disciples didn’t all agree. Early Christians sometimes didn’t see eye to eye on things as foundational as whether Jesus was God. Yet, when they relied on the Holy Spirit, when they accepted the prayers of Jesus, the Church has found unity. 

Jesus prayed for it. The Holy Spirit provides for it. We will be blessed by it. Come Holy Spirit unify your people!

Live It: Pray for your enemies. Add “For my enemies” to your list of people you pray for. If you don’t have a list of people you pray for, start one with enemies right at the top. If you are daring, ask God to give you an opportunity to love the people you don’t agree with and then pray for grace because they are coming your way.

Sunday Readings for May 29, 2022.

He did it religiously.

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Every afternoon, following a large lunch and usually a piece of pie, my grandfather would head out for a walk around his neighborhood. He had been a teacher and principal of the local high school for 40+ year and so nearly every person in his small Ohio town knew my grandfather by name.

Over the years my grandfather’s walk slowed in pace and shortened in length, but everyday at about 1 p.m. you could find him walking the streets of his hometown. He took this walk religiously. It’s funny how we use the world “religiously” to describe a practice or habit that someone does repeatedly. If someone has a good habit built up, we say they religiously do that thing. 

In the gospel this Sunday, Luke describes Jesus going to synagogue and reading from a scroll. It feels like the first act of a life of public ministry. Luke says that Jesus went to the synagogue that day “according to his custom.” In other words, Jesus regularly attended the synagogue in his hometown. Going to the synagogue was an ordinary practice for Jesus. One might say he went religiously. 

We humans often think that things that happen regularly are boring or mundane. While in some cases that might be true, just because something happens time and time again doesn’t make that thing any less significant. The sun rises everyday but if we are paying attention, it can be a pretty extraordinary thing.

After Jesus read the scroll with the messianic prophecy from Isaiah, he sat down. While everyone starred at him, he said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” This was an extraordinary moment. Jesus publicly declares that he is the chosen messiah spoken about in the Old Testament. Jesus exclaims that he has come to bring glad tidings to the poor, recover the sight of the blind, free the oppressed, and proclaim a year of jubilee. These are the actions of the messiah. 

I see two take aways for us. First, Jesus is Lord and he purposefully says so. Secondly, amazing, extraordinary things not only can happen in ordinary, regular moments, but often only because those moments occur with regularity.

The truth is we encounter a great deal of miraculous, astonishing, and extraordinary things in our daily lives. We have just become numb to their profound awesomeness. God blesses us abundantly and we often get bored with the incredible. 

Mass is an example of this experience. We go to Mass week after week and for many of us it feels like the same old thing again and again. The reality is that during Mass the veil between heaven and earth falls, the bread and wine on the altar transform into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, and our God comes so close to us we can taste him. While we might attend Mass religiously, we should never let Mass become empty repetition. After all, it is always extraordinary. 

Live It: Go to Mass and pretend it is your first Mass ever. Try to see, feel, smell, hear, and taste everything as if it is the first time ever. Let yourself be amazed.

Sunday Readings January 23, 2022.

Do Homage.

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In 1999 St. Pope John Paul II came to St. Louis, Missouri my hometown. I was in the Kiel Center with 22,000 teens and young adults for the youth prayer experience with St. JPII. It was awesome. One of the most incredible moments for the St. Louis young people was when the Pope suddenly appeared on the big screens. He was in the building! And then coming into the camera view was St. Louis Cardinal baseball player Mark McGwire. This was a bigger deal than you can imagine.

Let me explain. St. Louis is baseball crazy. (Partly because we don’t have anything else going for us.) In 1999 before all the performance enhancing drug controversies, Mark McGwire was a living legend. He was a big deal. Part of the stadium was named after him (Big Mac Land) and only recently has been renamed. When we saw the Pope and the Big Mac together on he big screens, if felt like our little St. Louis heads were going to explode. 

Then Mark McGwire leaned over and kissed the Pope’s ring. With head lowered he waited for a blessing and humbly and simply thanked the Pope. It was amazing to see the biggest name, the most famous sports star, so humbled in the presence of St. John Paul II. Only later did I realize what Mark McGwire was doing was paying St. John Paul II homage. 

In the gospel this Sunday we hear the familiar story of the three Magi traveling to see Jesus in the manger. They follow a star. They bring gifts. You know the drill. 

But what amazed me when I re-read it this week is that they tell Herod that they are coming to give this new king homage. Herod asks them to tell him when they have found the new king so that he too can offer homage. Later when the wise men find Jesus, they do in fact offer him homage (and stuff). 

The appropriate and good response to searching for and finding Jesus is to give him homage. This is what we were made to do – to offer Jesus homage. What does that mean for us. To give Jesus homage is to offer him some special honor in a public fashion. In other words, we humble ourselves before him and offer praise and honor in a place where others witness this action. 

I think a lot of us offer Jesus our problems. We offer Jesus our needs. We offer Jesus our requests. We are private fans of Jesus. All of that is fine, but it isn’t doing Jesus homage. 

This Christmas season our challenge is not just only be fans of Jesus, but to be followers. Our challenge is to offer Jesus special honor in a public manner. Let’s offer our newborn King homage. 

Live It: Go to a local nativity scene (at your parish or otherwise) and offer Jesus some act of homage. Pray out loud to him, say a Glory Be, or some other act of praise and honor. Visit and offer Jesus homage. 

Sunday Readings for January 2, 2022.

Ask Big.

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Every now and again one of my kids throws a fit. I know, I expected them to be perfect little saints all the time as well. Turns out they are normal kids, kind of a relief actually. 

The other night my son was in bed but kept calling and calling and calling for us. I pulled the short straw and went up to his room. 

When I asked him what we wanted, his huge, overwhelming demand was that I take is water bottle and put it on his night stand. He could have asked for the moon and I would have tried to get it for him. His ask was small in comparison.

In the spiritual life, I think we often ask too small for God. We think we should limit what we ask for in prayer because God will be more likely to answer our prayer. Or we don’t want to seem selfish or demanding so we go small. It could also be that we don’t want to be disappointed, so we only make little prayers. 

In the gospel this Sunday, The crowds ask for more bread. They want to be fed like they were when Jesus multiplied the loaves. The crowds want physical sustenance. They are asking small. 

Meanwhile Jesus is offering the bread of heaven. He is offering them something that will keep them fed forever. Jesus is offering them the Bread of Life. Jesus is offering himself. 

Too often I think we ask small. In our prayer we ask for just the worldly things when God is offering us something much, much larger. We ask for comfort while God offers us greatness. We ask for success and God offers us salvation. We ask for the world while God is offering us Heaven.

There is nothing wrong for praying for our daily bread, Jesus instructs us to pray those exact words. However, praying for our daily bread must not deter us from asking for the big stuff. When we pray, we can and should ask for a God sized miracle or request. The prayer life of the disciple of Jesus is one in which our prayers match our faith. Ask big. 

LIVE IT: Decide on something really, really big – a God sized ask – and then pray that prayer every day for a week. Go Big. Ask God something that is crazy and impossible and then see what happens. 

Go-To Guy

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If my snowblower won’t start, I call Brandon. When I need to haul a bunch of stuff, I call my friend Jim. When I have a question about how the economy works (or which piece of scripture best suits a question), I text Todd. These are just some of my Go-To Guys. To be honest, my list of Go-To Guys is really quite long. 

A Go-To Guy is the someone you call when you need help with something for which you are not the expert. More than that, a Go-To Guy is someone you can 100% rely on and you know that they will are willing to help even when it isn’t convenient for them. When something goes wrong, you can lean on a Go-To Guy. When something goes right a Go-To Guy is someone you want to celebrate with. And of course, Go-To Guys aren’t just gentlemen. We have plenty of Go-To Gals as well. 

In the gospel this Sunday, Jesus goes to Simon and Andrews house. Simon’s mother-in-law has a fever. This fever was life threatening. Mark’s gospel tells us, “They immediately told him about her.” When it comes to the sick, possessed, or ailing, Jesus is the disciples Go-To Guy. 

Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law and she gets up and starts making dinner. 

When word spreads the entire town starts bringing their possessed and sick to Jesus. He heals and frees one person after another. Later after spending the pre-dawn hours in prayer, Jesus explains to his disciples that preaching and healing is the purpose for which he has come. Jesus’ mission is to be the world’s Go-To Guy. 

The word that got me in this Sunday’s gospel is “immediately.” It wasn’t just that Jesus was the Go-To Guy for the disciples. They went to him immediately. 

What is our first instinct when it comes to going to Jesus? When do we go to him? Why do we go to him?

It seems to me that Jesus is our Go-To Guy for life and death. When it comes to eternal joy in the face of suffering and death, Jesus is our Go-To Guy. The key is that we turn to him immediately. He is the first call. Jesus is our primary healer. Don’t wait, run to him, immediately. 

Live It: For 1 week try a new way to pray – micro prayers. In addition to your normal prayer routine, go to Jesus with your prayers immediately and briefly. For Example: When you go to drive somewhere – Thank God your car started. Pray for someone you pass on the street. Pray for everyone inside a medical building you pass. Pray for the children when you pass by a school. Thank God for beauty when you see a snow covered tree. Make Jesus your Go-To Guy in the small stuff too. 

Sunday Readings for February 7th, 2021.

Overheard

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Have you ever been in a crowded restaurant (not lately…), and overheard the conversation at the table next to you. One time my wife witnessed the breakup of a long term relationship. It was messy and horrible to be a part of. Another time we accidentally sat in on a business meeting of a local pro sports team, and heard that they weren’t planning on bring the coach back the follow year (can’t make it up).

Overhearing an intimate conversation or an intimate moment is a little cringy. Maybe you’re the kind of person who likes to eavesdrop, but for me the more intimate the conversation or moment, the more I just want to run away or plug my ears. One of the reasons I don’t like is because that means there has probably been a time when some overheard an intimate conversation I was a part of. No one wants that. 

When a conversation is general or mundane, I don’t have the same reaction. Who cares if I overhear someone talking about trash day or the weather?

In the gospel this Sunday we overhear Jesus making an intimate prayer to God. Only three times in Matthew’s gospel does Jesus pray like this. One time is when he is suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Another is when he is dying on the cross. This Sunday we hear the third time Matthew records Jesus’ intimate prayer. 

Jesus is praying in thanksgiving to God for his disciples, in fact, for all people who believe in him. He calls them (us), the little ones. What do these little ones know that the wise and the learned don’t know? Him. The little ones know Jesus. If you know who and what and why Jesus is, Jesus says then you know the Father. If you have intimacy with Jesus, you have intimacy with God Almighty. Jesus reveals who God is. Wow. Awesome. 

I think overhearing someone’s prayer is a lot like overhearing someone’s conversation. When I am praying in a group, my prayers are more what you would expect me to say in front of other people. But when I am alone and really in need of my Lord, my prayer is intimate, personal, and not something I would love for someone else to overhear. 

Maybe this is why Jesus says “But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matthew 6:6).

I think there is a time a place for all kinds of prayer (no wrong way to pray, honestly). Yet I do think our goal in life is intimacy with God (heaven) and that means our prayer needs to move in that direction too. Pray like Jesus – intimately. 

LIVE IT: Go somewhere totally alone – Car, a hike in nature, basement, bedroom, bathroom. Say to God a prayer from your deepest place. Tell him what is really going on. Ask the thing you can’t imagine asking him. Say the prayer to him you wouldn’t say in front of anyone else. 

Sunday Readings for July 5th, 2020.

Talking to Yourself

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Sunday Readings for Oct 27, 2019

One of my earliest memories is sitting in the backseat of the car and watching my dad talk to himself. I don’t mean in unsettling or mental health sort of way. Rather in the kind of way I think most of us do. I’ve been caught by my children rehearsing a conversation before it happens or working out a problem and not realizing how public I am being about it. I’ve even been known to win arguments with not so present adversaries. 

In the gospel tells a parable about a prideful Pharisee and a humble sinner. In the story, the Pharisee stands in his regular pew and offers up a prayer “to himself.” I used to think this meant he said it quietly, but more recently I think this means that was actually praying to himself. He wasn’t actually thanking God, but in fact thanking himself for his own self determined goodness. 

I think sometimes we do pray to ourselves. We think or speak prayers in such a way that glorifies us. We utter intentions that ask ourselves to make something happen or to be okay with a situation. We ask for our own favor so that we can do whatever we were going to do anyway.  

Jesus taught us so many lessons with this simple parable, but for me, I think the lesson this year is to make sure I am praying to God and not myself. That means I need to offer praise for what God has done, not me. I need to thank God for what he has given me. I must ask him for things only he can provide. If we actually learn to pray to God and not ourselves, I think we won’t have to worry about whether we are prideful or humble, self-righteous or justified by God alone. 

LIVE IT: Make tonight’s prayer the name of Jesus. Just pray the name of Jesus over and over as slowly and with as much meaning as you can muster. Do this for as long as you need to. 

 

3 Ways to NOT be Tired.

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Readings for Sunday Oct. 20th.

Life Hack: Never tell anyone that they look tired. 

Seriously, telling anyone that they look tired is only an accusation and judgement of appearance and no body likes that. Some people take it more personally that others, of course, but no one likes it. Some people respond better to “You seem tired,” but even that can go wrong. Maybe if we just all agree to not comment on how tired everyone is. 

Quick poll – raise your hand if you’re tired? Did you raise your hand? “Tired” seems to be the most common current mood. “Tiredness” has risen to epidemic levels. Is everyone just tired all the time now?

So in the gospel this Sunday when Luke writes “pray without becoming weary” and then Jesus tells us a parable about perseverance in prayer, it kinda feels like a trick. Who can possibly pray without becoming weary? Who can avoid becoming weary?

If the answer truly is no one, what should we do when we become weary? I think the first reading has an insight. The Israelites are fighting the Amalekites and as long as Moses has his arms raised, the Israelites are winning the battle. But his arms begin to sag and the Amalekites begin to win. So Moses sits down and Aaron and Hur support Moses’ arms.

The answer on what to do when we grow weary in prayer is to not do it alone! Prayer and, in fact, Christianity is always to be done in community. Even hermits have some sort of community. If we try and go alone, we will grow weary. Always practice our faith in groups and this goes for prayer too.

Here are three simple ways to pray when we grow weary:

  1. Parish prayer line – At my parish, Holy Name of Jesus, we have a group of people who pray for the intentions of the parish. A quick email to the directors of the prayer line and a whole host of people begin praying for any intention. Good chance your parish has one too. 
  2. Saintly Intercession – If we believe in everlasting life and we believe others can offer up our intentions for us, than why not ask the Saints to pray for our intentions. Pick a Saint of your choosing and ask them to pray for your intentions. 
  3. Phone a friend – Call or text someone and ask them to pray for your intention. I know that sounds kinds of obvious, but I’m writing it here to give you permission to do. 

Live It: Do one of the three suggestions above in order to pray without growing weary this week.

 

Scream at God.

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Readings for Sunday Oct 13th, 2019

I don’t remember the circumstances, but I remember the prayer. I was having a rough time in my college years. I was home for summer and I was frustrated and mad and not happy. I was driving home and I shut off the radio and I screamed – I screamed at God. 

No one would have called it reverent or pious. But it was real. I was really upset. I screamed and cried and let God have it. I was angry and blamed God at lease partially. Of course it wasn’t his fault, but I couldn’t see that at the time. Afterward I just sat in my car and cried for a while. Maybe it wasn’t the best way to handle my situation, but strangely, I felt like God heard me. I felt like he heard my cry. 

In the gospel on Sunday Oct 13th, Jesus heals 10 lepers. To get Jesus’ attention the lepers “raised their voices, saying ‘Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!’” Later when the one returned he glorified God “in a loud voice.” My point is this when we are in distress and need God it doesn’t do us any good to be quiet.

If you are in a tough spot, shout at God. If you are struggling or suffering or don’t see any end to your difficult situation, let God know about it. God is big and strong and can take it. Raise your voice to God. If you’re angry at God, be angry. Be authentic in your prayer.

(Obviously I’m not advocating irreverence or rudeness towards God, just loud voices.)

And…when healing occurs and joy is restored and we feel grateful and blessed, we can shout with that same force. We don’t have to hold back in some false piety when God blesses us, but be loud and strong with our praise of the God who loves us. 

Whether you are struggling or celebrating, shout it out!

Live It: Sometime today pray out loud to God. Whether it is in your car or your home, speak the words you mean to say to God, out loud. 

Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama

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Sunday Readings for July 28th, 2019.

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“Mama   Mama   Mama    Mama   Mama MamaMamamamamamamamama.” – my 19 month-old son. 

My poor wife. I mean honestly. My toddler son only knows a few words. Sometimes “yes” means “no.” Sometimes “no” means “if you say so.” When he says “dada,” it almost always means, “Yay! Look, it’s my dad over there.” But when my son wants something he says “Mama.”

Sometimes he does this to actually get her attention, but most of the time I think he chants this mantra as a reminder to us and himself that he is need of something. And he almost always needs something. If you are a mama or you live with a mama, who has a toddler constantly calling for mama, then you know what a burden this can feel like.

In my toddler’s defense, he’s learned this behavior. He’s learned that if he doesn’t get what he needs/wants when he points to it or screams or just tries in silence, he has learned that if he says mama again and again and again, something will happen. 

Needless to say, my wife doesn’t always give him what he wants. No, of course not. But she always turns to him and somehow responds “Yes” “No” or “Wait”.

Jesus teaches his disciples to pray in this Sunday’s gospel. Jesus doesn’t just teach us what to say, but how to pray – with persistence. 

Jesus teaches in the Parable of the Midnight Caller (just made up that title ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), that the owner of the house will get up to help his friend just becasue his friend is annoying. While we might think this doesn’t make God sound very good, the core of this parable is about our action, our prayer. Jesus knows that persistence is more important to fruitful prayer than perfect diction. In other words, if we think we can craft the perfect prayer that will convince God to give us what we want, then who we believe in is ourselves. 

Praying with persistence reveals that we know we can’t attain what we are asking for. To pray with persistence demonstrates our need for God. Persistent prayer ultimately shows that we know that what we really need is God himself. If we keep calling God’s name, he hears and he answers. 

LIVE IT: Set a timer on your phone for 2 minutes. Start that timer and then begin saying the name of JESUS over and over. Say it slowly. Say it as a prayer. Pray the very name of Jesus.