“Prayer is love melted into worship.” (Charles H. Brent)
There are moments during my Holy Hour when my mind stops for a few brief seconds and I hear the voice of God. It is a moment of worship when love breaks into life. We are reminded that to worship God is to be in the presence of God, to place ourselves into a union with God in an act of service in love. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,” says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy.” (CCC #2096)
“Prayer is love melted into worship.”
Often times when I am hearing confessions in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or in deep conversation with someone words and wisdom are spoken that are gifts of the Holy Spirit. They do not come from my brain rather these words flow from my soul and into the wounds of the penitent or the person being counseled. It is a moment of grace which can slip by easily. Jesus reminds us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Mt 18:20) Our pray of worship is allowing God to break through in the daily moments of grace and gathering knowing we are in His presence in choosing to listen in love and speak in healing.
“Prayer is love melted into worship.”
Playing golf with friends is one of the blessings in my life. In the long walk around the 18 holes much is learned about life and how we are called to share this life, given by God, with one another. I think of the walk as something akin to Jesus’ walk with his disciples. The oddest topics enter into some of the mundane conversations of life. Yes, we speak of the game. Yes, we talk about family and work. Yet, there are often deeper, meaningful moments where we see past the day to day and into the heart of a companion. We see where God is seeking to lead each of us and how we, as brothers and sisters in the Lord, are invited to be disciples. It is the moment when Jesus ask us to take the Cup of Salvation and walk more gently, to cast our nets more deeply into the waters of life and to bear the cross with compassion. It is where, in love, we enter into the prayer of conversation knowing God is there and grace is flowing forth.
“Prayer is love melted into worship.”
As a priest and pastor of a parish community I am asked to do many different and complex things. Many of which confound my experience and place struggle and doubt into my life. These are heavy burdens often made more difficult in my choices to carry them alone. I have found two great prayers of blessing the first is remember whose Church it is from the phrase attributed to Pope St. John XXIII, “It’s your Church, Lord. I’m going to bed.” Knowing, even in my cries of despair, that God will not abandon us and where he surrounds us with hands, feet and wisdom to carry us forward as a community. The second is the prayer to my Guardian Angel. We often become forgetful as adults of our Guardian Angel. Mine works very hard and especially when I lay my head on the pillow at night; it is a prayer of protection and rest the he gets to hear from my heart. A prayer my angel guards through the night.
““The acts of faith, hope, and charity enjoined by the first commandment are accomplished in prayer. Lifting up the mind toward God is an expression of our adoration of God: prayer of praise and thanksgiving, intercession and petition. Prayer is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God’s commandments. “[We] ought always to pray and not lose heart.”” (CCC #2098) …because “Prayer is love melted into worship.”
God Bless
Fr. Mark