by Joseph Nangle, OFM
Pax Christi USA 2023 Teacher of Peace
This week before Lent seems a perfect time to reflect on one crucial demand of this penitential season – prayer. It is always included in the traditional formula for Lent: fasting, almsgiving and prayer. And we sense that these upcoming six weeks follow the example of Jesus who spent 40 days praying in a deserted place just as He was about to begin His public ministry.
The whole matter of Jesus praying represents for many a great mystery. Wasn’t the Son of God entirely in communion with His Father? Then almost immediately comes the realization of another great mystery: He was at the same time entirely human, one of us, in need of prayer in his life.
Jesus’ prayer life was extensive. It accompanied all the experiences which He encountered in living his totally human existence. The gospels relate any number of Jesus in prayer and serve as examples of what our prayer life can be. Again, they are wonderful sources of reflection during these coming Lenten weeks.
- At Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, Luke writes: “He was praying when the heavens opened.” (Luke 3:21)
- Again, in Luke’s gospel we read: “Great crowds assembled to listen to Him BUT Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)
- Before selecting his 12 closest collaborators, the Apostles, “Jesus spent the night praying to God.” (Luke 6:!2)
- As He neared Jerusalem that final time, “Jesus took Peter James and John with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.” (Luke 9:28)
- During the dramatic final hours of His life, as Jesus allowed the powers of darkness to crush Him, prayer was constantly on His lips: In Gethsemane just before His capture, He prayed: “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done.” (Matthew 27:46)
- As He was being nailed to a cross, that horrifying manner of Roman capital punishment, Jesus’ prayer was: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
- He cries out a desperate prayer from that cross: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani – My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
- And in that culminating moment of his death, He proclaims: “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
We know that in practice the example of Jesus is hard to follow. Prayer is generally unsatisfactory. We often get hopelessly distracted as all the details of our lives take over our attempts to connect with God. And when we do feel that we are connecting, we come up against the “Incomprehensible Mystery” that we call God; we have no words to express what we are seeking. The wonderful phrase from the drama about St. Thomas More comes to mind here when the saint observes that “God made man to serve Him in ‘the tangle of his mind.’”
Our prayers come from the “tangle of our minds.”
How could Jesus Himself not have experienced this “tangle”? The first chapter of Mark’s gospel (1:35-37) places Jesus praying early one morning in a deserted place. The day before He had spent hours preaching and healing and His disciples “pursued Him” because still more people need His attention. Distraction, interruption, demands on His time, unfinished business – all militating against quiet prayer.
By way of conclusion two quotes from people who have dealt with these same challenges:
“Because I am a woman involved in practical cases, I must meditate [pray] when I can… early in the morning, of the fly during the day…at the kitchen table, on the train… on my way to and from appointments and when I’m making supper or putting my child to bed.” (Dorothy Day)
“At times it can be a headache or a problem of the liver that stops us from entering into prayer.” (Pope Francis)
Joe Nangle OFM is a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and the 2023 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. As a member of the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C., he is dedicated to simple living and social change. Joe also serves as the Pastoral Associate for the Latino community at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, Virginia.
Thanks Fr Joe for examples of Jesus praying. It seems as if he was dispensing words from the tangle of his distressed mind, intimate words, words that were at times pleading then thanking. Words tangled in a trusting relationship unique in every way. I take it that there is no standard format for prayer. It is a relationship with God who we love and trust. It can be anger, despair and fright. It can be a conversation or working out a problem. It can be any human emotion. It can be almost constant as we stumble through the day. It might be that each time we express ourselves in any of these many ways our loving relationship with an intimate God deepens.