Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Prayer Is the Source of Christian Strength

My dear brothers and sisters, this third Sunday of Easter, we read/listen to the Gospel of Luke which tells a story about two disciples of Jesus who walk back to Emmaus. These two disciples gave up on Christ because of the cross.

They were walking away from the community of apostles and Christ's followers - leaving the Church. It wasn't because they were big sinners. It was just that the Cross, the tragedy of Good Friday, had scared them away. "We were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel," they say to the stranger as they walk back to their old lifestyles, sad and disappointed.

They simply can't understand how salvation can come out of the Cross, victory out of defeat. So, they give up. But Jesus comes to their rescue. He walks along with them, talking to them about the Scriptures, the promises and revelations found in God's Word.

And their hearts "burn within them." Their hope is stirred into flame. Their spiritual strength and their faith return. Suddenly, they can recognize Christ's saving power and love even in the darkness of the shadow of the Cross.

We too face the temptation of fear and discouragement when crosses come into our lives. In fact, we all know Catholics who have left the Church, just as these two disciples were leaving Jerusalem, because the Cross crushed their hope, and they became cynical, angry.

What will prevent us from abandoning our Lord and our hope when we feel the weight of the Cross? The same thing that rescued these two sad disciples: conversation with Christ - prayer.

Prayer is the source of light and strength for the Christian. When we take time to unburden our minds to the Lord, and to read and reflect on the Scriptures, maybe with the help of spiritual books, we give Jesus a chance to explain things to our hearts.

The Example of Jesus and the Words of Some Saints

Jesus himself told us this when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane with his Apostles. The shadow of the Cross was beginning to fall, and he said to the Apostles, "Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation." And Jesus followed his own advice. How did he resist the onslaughts of the devil during his agony in the Garden, which made him feel anguish, fear, and sorrow? By praying - he threw himself onto the ground and prayed. Prayer was his strength.

St Teresa of Avila put it very bluntly when she explained the importance of daily, personal prayer: "He who neglects mental prayer needs not a devil to carry him to hell, but he brings himself there with his own hands."

We all remember the scene from Luke Chapter 10, where Jesus goes to visit Martha and Mary. Martha is busy in the kitchen, and she complains to Jesus about her sister Mary, who is just sitting there conversing with Jesus - praying. Jesus tells Martha that Mary chose the better part.

Here's how St Augustine interprets that scene: "From the top of a hill the rain flows down to the valley. Just as more water collects at the bottom of the hill, so Mary, sitting in a low place at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words, receives more than Martha, standing and serving the temporal needs of her Master."

The Catechism teaches us that prayer is a "vital necessity" (2744). As St John Chrysostom taught: "Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible, it makes possible, what is difficult, easy... For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the man who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin."

And St Alphonsus Liguori put it even more concisely: "Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned."

Jump-Starting Our Prayer Life

Being men and women of prayer is not the same thing as simply saying prayers. It is always a temptation for us to reduce prayer to just reciting prayers. But prayer is meant to be much more than just reciting empty formulas.

Prayer is a relationship, it's an ongoing conversation with Christ our Lord, in which we talk about what's important to us and what's important to Him, just like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Catechism defines prayer as that relationship. It tells us: "Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ... a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God" (2564, 2558).

Because it is a relationship, we can always grow in our prayer lives. Jesus wants to pour into our hearts His own strength and light, wisdom and endurance, patience, and joy. When we grow in our prayer life, we give Him a chance to do that. And the only way to really grow in our prayer life is to spend more time in prayer.

Every Christian, every one of us, should spend ten or fifteen minutes a day, preferably in the morning, in personal prayer. Reading a passage from the Bible, reflecting on it, and responding to it in our own words, in the quiet of our hearts. Read, reflect, respond. This is a simple formula to help jumpstart our prayer lives.

Let's not wait till tomorrow. Let's begin right now, with the rest of this Mass - living it not passively, not just going through the motions, but actively, in conversation with the Lord who loves us and wants to come to our rescue.