By Thomas Mathew Vattakunnel
When you pray, don't hold back. When you're communicating with God, tell him exactly what's wrong and insist on holding him to his promises.
Prayer should be like speaking face-to-face with a friend, that too without fear, freely and also with insistence, Pope Francis said in his homily during an early morning Mass in the chapel of Santa Marta. The best example is Moses who argued with God and convinced Him in the mountain.
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus will listen to you also. The sad part is that most of us don't do it, and end up doing some ineffective forms of spirituality.
Prayer must also be "a negotiation with God, presenting arguments" supporting one's position. We should be like Moses: talk to God, argue with Him and convince Him. Pray like Moses did, face-to-face with the Lord, like a friend, freely, with insistence and good arguments, the pope said. "And also scold the Lord a little: 'Hey, you promised me this, and you haven't done it ...' Like that, like you talk with a friend."
This argument touched me. If you look at the way Christians conduct themselves across the world, it's clear that the entire Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer.
Exodus (32:7-14) says, "Moses' prayer for his people who had fallen into the grave sin of idolatry". It is as though God wished to distance himself through their dialogue, saying: "I have nothing to do with this people; they are yours, they are no longer mine". People whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves, God said.
But Moses responds: "O Lord, why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people, whom thou has brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?".
According to Vatican news.va, Moses begins to plead with God in a prayer which Pope Francis described as "a true battle with God". It was "the leader's battle ... to save his people, who were the people of God". Moses speaks freely before the Lord and in doing so he teaches us how to pray: without fear, freely, even with insistence. But keep in mind that we can't dilute our faith in the Creator
We should be praying to God, not filled with empty words, but a heartfelt, "real fight with God." Why don't you also follow the footsteps of Moses? Easier said than done. No. I think it's possible.
Saying words and nothing more is not prayer, the Pope said. One has to know how to "'negotiate' with God, as Moses did, by reminding God through argumentation of his relationship with his people". Moses seeks to 'convince' God' that if he were to unleash his wrath against his people, he would disgrace himself before all the Egyptians".
Moses' prayer is a success. The ending of this passage is beautiful: 'the‘Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people'. Certainly, the Lord was a little weary of this unfaithful people. However, in the final words of the passage one reads that the Lord repented and "changed his disposition". One must ask oneself: who truly changed here? Did the Lord change? "I believe not," the Pope said.
It was Moses who changed, because he believed that the Lord would have destroyed his people. And he probes his memory to discover how good the Lord was with his people, how he had taken from them slavery in Egypt in order to lead them forward with a promise.
"These are the arguments he employs to 'convince' the Lord". In the process, he rediscovers the memory of his people and also discovers the mercy of God. "Moses feared that God would do this [terrible] thing", and yet "in the end he goes down the mountain" with a great awareness in his heart: "our God is merciful, he is able to forgive, he turns back on his decisions, he is a father."
Dear people, open your heart wide to Jesus and get to know him better. Prayer is a grace, and the Holy Spirit is present; it changes and reinvigorates one's heart so people can strike back out on their life journey.
(The writer is a mechanical engineer based in Qatar)
When you pray, don't hold back. When you're communicating with God, tell him exactly what's wrong and insist on holding him to his promises.
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus will listen to you also. The sad part is that most of us don't do it, and end up doing some ineffective forms of spirituality.
Prayer must also be "a negotiation with God, presenting arguments" supporting one's position. We should be like Moses: talk to God, argue with Him and convince Him. Pray like Moses did, face-to-face with the Lord, like a friend, freely, with insistence and good arguments, the pope said. "And also scold the Lord a little: 'Hey, you promised me this, and you haven't done it ...' Like that, like you talk with a friend."
This argument touched me. If you look at the way Christians conduct themselves across the world, it's clear that the entire Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer.
Exodus (32:7-14) says, "Moses' prayer for his people who had fallen into the grave sin of idolatry". It is as though God wished to distance himself through their dialogue, saying: "I have nothing to do with this people; they are yours, they are no longer mine". People whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves, God said.
But Moses responds: "O Lord, why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people, whom thou has brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?".
According to Vatican news.va, Moses begins to plead with God in a prayer which Pope Francis described as "a true battle with God". It was "the leader's battle ... to save his people, who were the people of God". Moses speaks freely before the Lord and in doing so he teaches us how to pray: without fear, freely, even with insistence. But keep in mind that we can't dilute our faith in the Creator
We should be praying to God, not filled with empty words, but a heartfelt, "real fight with God." Why don't you also follow the footsteps of Moses? Easier said than done. No. I think it's possible.
Saying words and nothing more is not prayer, the Pope said. One has to know how to "'negotiate' with God, as Moses did, by reminding God through argumentation of his relationship with his people". Moses seeks to 'convince' God' that if he were to unleash his wrath against his people, he would disgrace himself before all the Egyptians".
Moses' prayer is a success. The ending of this passage is beautiful: 'the‘Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people'. Certainly, the Lord was a little weary of this unfaithful people. However, in the final words of the passage one reads that the Lord repented and "changed his disposition". One must ask oneself: who truly changed here? Did the Lord change? "I believe not," the Pope said.
It was Moses who changed, because he believed that the Lord would have destroyed his people. And he probes his memory to discover how good the Lord was with his people, how he had taken from them slavery in Egypt in order to lead them forward with a promise.
"These are the arguments he employs to 'convince' the Lord". In the process, he rediscovers the memory of his people and also discovers the mercy of God. "Moses feared that God would do this [terrible] thing", and yet "in the end he goes down the mountain" with a great awareness in his heart: "our God is merciful, he is able to forgive, he turns back on his decisions, he is a father."
Dear people, open your heart wide to Jesus and get to know him better. Prayer is a grace, and the Holy Spirit is present; it changes and reinvigorates one's heart so people can strike back out on their life journey.
(The writer is a mechanical engineer based in Qatar)
No comments:
Post a Comment