The desire for inner stillness, for the silence of the heart, is really the desire to experience the presence of God, a longing to know that Jesus truly lives with us, is present with his, is always there for us. One of the great tragedies of our lives, of the lives of so many Christians, is not to experience that presence. So our faith never becomes truly real for us. We do what is required of us, but our hearts are not touched, we do not know the joy of it. And yet, this is why Christ came, why he suffered, died and rose again, why he sent us the Holy Spirit — to be always present with us. This is the meaning of the mystery of his mystical body, the Church. This is the meaning of the sacraments, the meaning of our salvation in Jesus, of the coming of the Kingdom, and of the promise of Heaven.
How can this desire for the presence of Jesus be fulfilled? Only through prayer. This kind of prayer is usually called “contemplative” and is often considered possible only for a few chosen souls, mostly nuns and monks, and up for ordinary laypeople. But this is not true. Contemplative prayer is for everyone. A story is told about an old parishioner of Saint John Mary Vianney (the Curé d’Ars) who used to spend a lot of time alone in church. St. John became curious about him and asked him one day, “Why do you spend so much time sitting in church? What do you think about?” The old man answered, “I just look at him, he looks at me, and we are happy together.”
This lovely story illustrates two important points about contemplative prayer: that is not complicated, but is a simple way of being in the presence of God, and that one does not have to go to the desert or enter a monastery to experience it. But most of us need to find a path of prayer, a simple way of experiencing the presence of God and remaining in it. The prayer known as the Jesus prayer can be such a way. It can become for us means of entering the Kingdom of Heaven, finding Heaven on earth, for as blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity has said, “Heaven is God and God is in my heart.”
The form of this prayer is very simple. It consists of the constant repetition of just a few words: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” or “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” or “Lord Jesus, have mercy,” or even of the single word, “Jesus.” The exact formula does not matter as long as the Holy Name of Jesus is central to it. Once we find the exact wording which speaks to us most, we should stay with it.
Using this prayer is akin to other forms of prayer and meditation. One sets aside some time for it (perhaps twenty minutes) every day, twice a day if at all possible. We repeat the prayer quietly and interiorly. We should not be too concerned if our attention wanders, if we forget what we are saying, if we are distracted or even bored. We just return to the prayer, and keep saying it through the whole period set aside of it. To pray the Name of Jesus is a privilege, and will soon become a joy.
We must not confuse this joy with pleasant experiences or feelings. The work of the Jesus Prayer is to silence our minds. As soon as we realize that we are thinking about something, we should let go of our thoughts and gently return to saying our prayer.
We do not try to imagine that Jesus is there, even less what he looks like or what he says. We are simply aware of him the way we are aware of the presence of someone we love in the room next to us, or as a mother is always aware of what the children are doing, however busy she is. It is as simple as that. We know by faith that Jesus is here, is with us, and what we try to do is to remember it, to remind ourselves of it. That is all. The Jesus prayer is a way of remembering. Not in the sense of bringing to mind a memory of something that is past, but of recalling, reminding ourselves of something that is present, that is right there with us. This remembering is the joy that the Jesus prayer brings. But this joy is not ours to summon at will, to grasp at as if it were a possession. Like the prayer itself, it is a gift. Ours is only a discipline of faith and perseverance. And the experience, the joy, when it comes, will come of its own accord, and will be nothing like whatever we could imagine. God is immensely bigger than our imaginations. Our hope is that when God comes, when God reveals himself to us, we will be able to recognize him, like the disciples who recognized him when he visited them after the resurrection, in ways and at times they least expected.
The Church has never celebrated the first day of the year as such. We are all conscious, nonetheless, that January 1 marks the beginning of a new year. Christians can celebrate the fact that this date is given significance by being marked by the name of Jesus. To be marked by that name, to be defined by that name, to be transformed by that name teaches that we live the new year as members of a new world, a world of the real constant Presence of the Risen and Glorified Christ. We live our lives moment by moment, in a relationship with him. The repetition of the name of Jesus leads us into the space where we can live now with him unceasingly. God willing, we will one day reach the end of our earthly pilgrimage in faith, and find “the place of the End” when we shall see him as he truly is, and become like him.
Kevin+
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