The Power of Prayer

Today is the Feast of St. Monica. While I don’t know much about her, I do know that she was a woman of prayer. Her fervent prayer played a part in the conversion of her pagan husband and mother-in-law to Christianity as well as her son, Augustine. She was the model of a virtuous mother who nourished her faith through prayer and witnessed to it through her acts of charity.

Through prayer we communicate with God. He speaks to us if we take the time to quiet ourselves and listen. Throughout the gospels we hear of Jesus praying. Even the Son of God prayed! This is how he communicated with his Father. During the Sermon on the Mount he told the people that they must pray for those who persecute you. He taught them how to pray, giving them the Lord’s Prayer. Chapter 17 of John’s gospel is The Prayer of Jesus. It begins with Jesus raising his eyes to heaven and saying, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.” (John 17:1) The time has come for his Passion and he is praying to his Father so that he may glorify him. He speaks about praying for us, not just his disciples but “for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may also be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17:20-21) In prayer, Jesus is in communion with the Father. Jesus teaches his disciples and us how to converse with God so that we can be in communion with him as well. At the Last Supper and at every Mass it is through prayer that bread and wine become the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And during the Agony in the Garden, he taught us the ultimate prayer, one of complete surrender. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).

 In the Gospels, Jesus converses with God. In a good conversation, two people share part of their lives with each other. Likewise, Christ converses with us through his passion, death, and resurrection. By reading Scripture, we converse with him and grow in his life. In communal and private prayer we become one with Christ who is one with God. We fulfill, then, Jesus' own prayer to the Father about us, “that they may be one just as we are.” (Michael Patella)