The power of prayer

In the psalm of today’s liturgy, Ps. 56, we pray: “For you have rescued me from death, my feet, too, from stumbling; that I may walk before God in the light of the living.”  And the Gospel, Luke 8: 4-15, speaks of the parable of the sower, spreading seed. Some seed fell where it was trampled upon and eaten up by birds. Some seed fell on rocky ground and did not grow while other seed fell among thorns and was choked off. Still other seed fell on rich ground, grew and produced rich fruit.

 

We are challenged to be “rich soil,” that is soil filled with nutrients, fertilized, moistened, open to God’s outpouring graces, nurtured by our living of the faith, of our imitation of Christ, of our practicing the Beatitudes and loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind and our neighbor as ourselves (cf. Lk 10:27). 

This morning I brought “the fertilizer” of a particular experience to the Lord in prayer. I was grappling with the request to attend a fundraiser to support homeless shelters run by one of my fellow Sisters.  I was resisting with the excuse: I know no one. I do not want to give up a weekend, etc..  With reservation, I asked the Lord for feedback, as I was also feeling selfish for not feeling gung-ho about attending and I was also afraid of the Lord’s answer.   The Lord challenged me for being the “rich man” looking at Lazarus at his gate and doing nothing. I realized the invitation to attend this fundraiser was an opportunity for me to participate in the ministry to the homeless, a ministry that gives these unfortunate persons a chance to regain their dignity, learn ways to save money, find jobs and take themselves off the street.  In short, the Lord “rescued me from death, my feet, too, from stumbling; that I may walk before God in the light of the living.”

In truth, prayer  transforms rocky soil into receptive soil, rescues seeds choked off by a zillion excuses (thorns in the spiritual life) and transplants them into soil receptive to graces. Taking time to consult with the Lord enables all of us to be changed by the Living Word of God, a Word that cuts to the marrow of our bones, revealing our sinful, selfish motives. That can be risky and maybe the reason, many times, we keep busy and don’t take time to listen to the Lord in prayer.