Matthew under the arm 21
I've told Columba for some time now, that going up and down on this uneven path is tiring. He replies that he is hungry. Great! A stop! Passing through a little town, we come across a Church that has its doors locked. Great! We can go straight to the pub! The name of the priest is pinned to the door. My indignation at the apparent lack of care and absent welcome, Columba ignores. So we go to the Priest's door and he invites us in to his front room. There are 5 or 6 folk around a little coffee table; a glass and a plate with a loaf - The Eucharist. 'Why not in the Church?' 'Because,' says the priest, 'the roof is leaking!' Columba enters into a silence. The little group realises that this man has a knowledge. 'Teach us to pray', one asks. The priest adds, 'And teach me to pray too!'.... Holiness 'speaks in silences' very clearly!
Matthew 6:7-15….
Prayer is not an isolated practice. It is 'eucharistic' because the Body and Blood of Christ is (note the unitive/singular here!) the sacramental wellspring of the Church, the Body of Christ. ('Eucharist' - The Thanksgiving for the offering of Christ in His Body and Blood - The Mass, Communion... etc) Christ teaches us to pray by giving himself. The Lord’s Prayer, after all, includes: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. Prayer feeds because the Eucharist feeds. The first two words of the Lord’s Prayer are ‘Our Father’ not ‘My Father’. So even when I am apparently praying by myself, I am with the Body of Christ as that Body has experienced throughout history, both in the living and in the departed, most of whom I do not know. I am with the prophets, the saints and all the unknown ones who have prayed this prayer.
Come Source of all and draw me into the Unity of Your Son’s Body.
Immediately you say in your heart ‘Our Father’ you are acknowledging that you are with others! Humanity and indeed all of creation are ('is' !) in fact united. The difficulty lies in not realising it. Therefore, take responsibility for yourself in praying that you are one with those around you and beyond. You cannot do that by yourself as you have learnt to see everybody and everything around you as separate, except the people and the things that you desire. This sentence takes you into a deeper place to where the Spirit of God brings Unity. It is the essential work of intercession.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
Matthew 6:7-15….
Prayer is not an isolated practice. It is 'eucharistic' because the Body and Blood of Christ is (note the unitive/singular here!) the sacramental wellspring of the Church, the Body of Christ. ('Eucharist' - The Thanksgiving for the offering of Christ in His Body and Blood - The Mass, Communion... etc) Christ teaches us to pray by giving himself. The Lord’s Prayer, after all, includes: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. Prayer feeds because the Eucharist feeds. The first two words of the Lord’s Prayer are ‘Our Father’ not ‘My Father’. So even when I am apparently praying by myself, I am with the Body of Christ as that Body has experienced throughout history, both in the living and in the departed, most of whom I do not know. I am with the prophets, the saints and all the unknown ones who have prayed this prayer.
Come Source of all and draw me into the Unity of Your Son’s Body.
Immediately you say in your heart ‘Our Father’ you are acknowledging that you are with others! Humanity and indeed all of creation are ('is' !) in fact united. The difficulty lies in not realising it. Therefore, take responsibility for yourself in praying that you are one with those around you and beyond. You cannot do that by yourself as you have learnt to see everybody and everything around you as separate, except the people and the things that you desire. This sentence takes you into a deeper place to where the Spirit of God brings Unity. It is the essential work of intercession.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
posted by Martin at 10:51 am
1 Comments:
A timely reminder! If you look at this post you'll see why - there's been a lot of discussion about prayer in your diocese recently.
Post a Comment
<< Home