Every time we
see Jesus pray, it is powerful, it is beautiful and it is intimate, showing us
the very depths of the love that exists between the Father and the Son. In
fact, in one of His most powerful prayers, Jesus is in the Garden, pleading for
His life, while always ready to do the Will of the Father, whatever that might
be. It was a prayer so powerful, it was a prayer so painful that He, literally,
sweat blood as a result.
In our Gospel, Jesus is praying with that same intensity, that same intimacy, that same desire, but He is not praying merely for Himself this time, He is praying, primarily for us. And, it is a prayer that shows the amazing depths of His love for us. Because, this is His final prayer before His Ascension, this is His plea to the Father to protect us, to guard us, to guide us and to be our refuge while He is away from us.
This is why this is called Jesus’ priestly prayer and why, as a priest, His desire is that we be consecrated in the truth, that we be consecrated to God, because consecration is more than just a desire to make us holy, it is setting us apart from the world that we may become the embodiment of holiness. That we become, like that Eucharist we receive, transformed, raised up, and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is what Jesus is showing, that in order to live in the world, in order to not be changed by the world, we have no choice but to become holy, our prayer, our life, our words, our actions have to be more than just something we do in order to hope for Heaven, they have to be something we do in order to become a saint in this world.
And, the way that happens is the same way that Jesus shows and has shown in His prayer, by establishing a deep, intimate and loving relationship with God, to the point that we, literally, become one with Him, so that His Will and our will are the same, His desire and our desires no different.
Because, ultimately, prayer is a conversation of love, it is knowing God more than just by what we say, by what we feel, by who we know He is, it is an abandonment of ourselves to the point that we only know ourselves by Him. Because, while the mere word “love” means so many things to so many different people, especially in this day and age, it was St. John of the Cross who put it well, he said: “Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.”
In fact, before my third open-heart, as I have shared before, I would lay on the floor in the chapel, prostrate before the altar, before God, but what I never shared was that the prayer would become so powerful, so intimate that sometimes it got to a point where it was indescribable and the best way to explain it is a feeling of looking at the universe, outside of the universe, while experiencing a peace unlike this world could possibly give.
And, when everyone was praying for me while I was recovering, I heard very vividly someone praying for me, pleading, telling me to wake up. That was the first time I woke up after my surgery, as quickly as I did, despite no one being at my bedside. Yet, that is what is possible with prayer, that is the prayer that Jesus shows in a very powerful way, it is what prayer did for me, it was prayer can do for every single one of us.
Many people think prayer is a waste of time, pointless, or their prayers are never answered, but prayer is more than a bunch of words, it is more than making God a genie granting our every wish, it is a conversation, it should be a daily conversation and it should be frequent. It should be time spent with someone who loves us so much He not only sent His Son who died for us, but who sought and continues to seek our protection so that we get to spend eternity with Him.
And, all it takes is to spend time with Him now, all it takes are simple words spoken from our hearts, all it takes is to acknowledge Him, abandon ourselves to Him, and simply show how much we love Him who loves us more than we could possible imagine.
In our Gospel, Jesus is praying with that same intensity, that same intimacy, that same desire, but He is not praying merely for Himself this time, He is praying, primarily for us. And, it is a prayer that shows the amazing depths of His love for us. Because, this is His final prayer before His Ascension, this is His plea to the Father to protect us, to guard us, to guide us and to be our refuge while He is away from us.
This is why this is called Jesus’ priestly prayer and why, as a priest, His desire is that we be consecrated in the truth, that we be consecrated to God, because consecration is more than just a desire to make us holy, it is setting us apart from the world that we may become the embodiment of holiness. That we become, like that Eucharist we receive, transformed, raised up, and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is what Jesus is showing, that in order to live in the world, in order to not be changed by the world, we have no choice but to become holy, our prayer, our life, our words, our actions have to be more than just something we do in order to hope for Heaven, they have to be something we do in order to become a saint in this world.
And, the way that happens is the same way that Jesus shows and has shown in His prayer, by establishing a deep, intimate and loving relationship with God, to the point that we, literally, become one with Him, so that His Will and our will are the same, His desire and our desires no different.
Because, ultimately, prayer is a conversation of love, it is knowing God more than just by what we say, by what we feel, by who we know He is, it is an abandonment of ourselves to the point that we only know ourselves by Him. Because, while the mere word “love” means so many things to so many different people, especially in this day and age, it was St. John of the Cross who put it well, he said: “Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.”
In fact, before my third open-heart, as I have shared before, I would lay on the floor in the chapel, prostrate before the altar, before God, but what I never shared was that the prayer would become so powerful, so intimate that sometimes it got to a point where it was indescribable and the best way to explain it is a feeling of looking at the universe, outside of the universe, while experiencing a peace unlike this world could possibly give.
And, when everyone was praying for me while I was recovering, I heard very vividly someone praying for me, pleading, telling me to wake up. That was the first time I woke up after my surgery, as quickly as I did, despite no one being at my bedside. Yet, that is what is possible with prayer, that is the prayer that Jesus shows in a very powerful way, it is what prayer did for me, it was prayer can do for every single one of us.
Many people think prayer is a waste of time, pointless, or their prayers are never answered, but prayer is more than a bunch of words, it is more than making God a genie granting our every wish, it is a conversation, it should be a daily conversation and it should be frequent. It should be time spent with someone who loves us so much He not only sent His Son who died for us, but who sought and continues to seek our protection so that we get to spend eternity with Him.
And, all it takes is to spend time with Him now, all it takes are simple words spoken from our hearts, all it takes is to acknowledge Him, abandon ourselves to Him, and simply show how much we love Him who loves us more than we could possible imagine.
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