In Tandem with Him

There have been several meditations this week in Magnificat about prayer. And today is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pope Benedict XVI says prayer is “about God’s desire to offer us the gift of himself. Prayer is a way of gradually purifying and correcting our wishes and of slowly coming to realize what we really need: God and his Spirit.”

To walk in the Spirit is to live in the present moment, always looking to Christ, always practicing His Presence, always moving in tandem with Him. (Restoring the Christian Soul, p.53) What a beautiful image that is, moving in tandem with Him. We are able to get to this place when we are in communion with God through prayer. God wants us to have an intimate relationship with him. He wants us to trust him with everything that is in our hearts; our hopes, desires, fears, struggles, praise, etc. As I have grown closer to Christ, all of these things have taken on a new light. My desire is to please him; my struggles are against sin and anything else that keeps me from him, all praise and glory is to Him alone, my fears often put up a barrier between me and God because I am often afraid to even voice them. But acknowledging our fears and bringing them into the light allows for the fear to be lifted and is the first step in allowing God to give us the strength to overcome them. My prayers become less about me and more about God’s desires for me.

But I am still trying to find a balance. Several months ago I had to go for a biopsy. I asked Fr. Jason, “Do I pray that the biopsy is negative or do I pray for God’s will to be done and for the grace to accept whatever happens?” He said to pray for both. We know that God is capable of complete healing so I need to have confidence in that when I pray. But we must also pray, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” It is not either or, but it is both. Fr. Jason anointed me the morning of the biopsy, and when I went to have it done, the nodule was gone; there was nothing to biopsy!! People tried to say that the test must have been wrong instead of even considering that a miracle had occurred. Of course, we knew it was a miracle and the first thing I did was give thanks to our heavenly Father.

The purpose of prayer is not to change the order established by God, but to obtain what God has decided to accomplish by means of our prayer. God wants the working out of certain things to depend on our desire and prayer. Is it not through prayer and our desire that we share in the fullness of God’s work and go beyond the limitations of our actions?  ~ Fr. Bernard Bro, O.P.