Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Prayer Matters Most

My dear brothers and sisters, at the beginning of today's Gospel, St Matthew tells us that Jesus went up into the hills by himself to pray. He had just finished a very long day teaching the crowds, healing the sick, and performing the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.

Let imagine, at the beginning of that day he had received the news about John the Baptist's death. At the time, he had wanted to go off alone to reflect, pray, and mourn the loss of that great prophet, who was also Christ's cousin. But the crowds wouldn't let him.

Now we see that although he delayed his time of prayer out of compassion for the crowds, he didn't skip it altogether, even though he must have been exhausted. Now as the sun sets, he climbs up the mountain to pray. And he doesn't appear again until about 3 o'clock in the morning - six hours later. We know from other Gospel passages that Jesus frequently went off alone to pray.

Isn't that kind of strange? Jesus was God, true God from true God, as we profess in the Creed. So why would he have to dedicate large chunks of time to pray? Because he was also true man, the Word made flesh, born of the Virgin Mary.

Jesus had two natures, divine and human. And because he was human, he needed pray. Human nature is not meant to go it alone. As the Catechism tells us, "Man was created to live in communion with God, in whom he finds happiness." And no one can have communion with God without a life of prayer.

Today Jesus is teaching us to keep first things first; if he who is the Son of God needed time alone in prayer, only an arrogant fool would claim not to need some.

Peter's experience during the storm, which we just heard about in today's Gospel passage, is a beautiful parable about the role of prayer in our life.

He and the other Apostles were in the boat, crossing the Sea of Galilee. As the Apostles are crossing the lake, the weather goes bad, it halts their progress. The night progresses, the wind storm gets worse; they just can't seem to make any headway.

The Apostles suddenly see a human figure approaching, walking across the surface of the water, illuminated by the light of the moon reflected by the flitting clouds. They are scared out of their wits - they think it's a ghost.

But Peter takes control of the situation: he asks the mysterious figure to enable him to walk across the violent waves - only Christ could do something like that.

So, Jesus tells him to come, and Peter steps out of the boat; the other Apostles are in shock. But Peter takes one step, then another, and soon he too is walking across the surface of the stormy sea.

At first, he is overjoyed as he looks into the smiling face of his Lord and walks towards him. But then he feels the strong wind; he hears it howling; and the waves around him seem to get bigger.

They seem to threaten him, and he takes his eyes off Christ to look at them. And as soon as he does that - he starts to sink.

Prayer is keeping the eyes of our heart focused on Christ, so that his grace can bring us safely through life's storms. As long as our prayer life is strong, waves of temptation, discouragement, and sin can surge and billow all around us, but Christ will keep us safe.

Most of us don't live in monasteries, so what can we do to make sure our prayer life keeps growing, to make sure that we pray better at age 40 or 50 than we did at age 10?

Jesus himself has given us a secret weapon for growth in prayer: the Eucharist. Prayer is spending time with God, speaking to him about what matters to us and what matters to him. And the Eucharist is the real presence of Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity.

In the hustle and bustle of our busy, twenty-first century lives, we need a time and place where we can be sure to find Christ, 24/7 - something that's objective, not dependent on our moods or feelings.

That's the Eucharist: the rock-solid foundation for a healthy life of prayer. When we receive Holy Communion, when we gaze upon the Host at Mass, when we come and kneel before the Tabernacle containing the Sacred species, or when we pray in adoration before the Eucharist solemnly exposed, we are doing what Peter did as he stepped out of that fishing boat: fixing our gaze on Christ the Lord, cultivating our personal relationship with him - praying to the one whose love and grace gives meaning, direction, and strength to our lives.

This miracle of Jesus walking on the water takes place right after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. The two miracles have to do with bread and with Christ's body - just like the Eucharist.

Today, as Christ recommits himself to us in this Mass, let's recommit ourselves to a healthy life of prayer. Let's promise him that we will never let a day go by without coming to visit him, to speak with him heart-to-heart in the Eucharist, even if only for a minute, so that he can keep deepening our soul's communion with God, in whom alone we will find happiness.