Virtues of Prayer

Today’s class began with the usual prayer service although I missed it do to an unscheduled family issue. I arrived about 20 minutes late for class just as the instructor was beginning to discuss prayer.

The prayers, as practiced by the early Christians, have forms based in Judaic practices, including a liturgical space where the faithful gathered for worship. Jesus is our model and teacher. Jesus is our intercessor. “Let us therefore approach the thrown with boldness that we may find mercy in our time of need. We find Jesus praying in consolation and desolation. Jesus teaches us how to pray; “When you pray do not store up treasures on earth”, “Anything you ask the Father in my name", and from others, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”.

St. Benedict said, “Lecto Divina begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply and reinforces hearing with the ears of your heart”. The prayer was spoken silently and slowly by the early Monks, focusing on the words in an effort to make Jesus present in their daily lives. Our goal is to reflect on the prayer’s meaning in our specific life and circumstances. Pray and speak to the lord in a natural way, then contemplate the message as grace draws you to Jesus.

The seven deadly sins are anger, gluttony, envy, sloth, lust, avarice, and pride, which is easier to remember with the anachronism AGES LAP. These sins have the power to separate us from god. They are the opposite of the virtues of patience, abstinence, kindness, diligence, chastity, generosity, and humility. We cannot practice virtue without community. Although confession is important, confession is NOT a license to sin. The priest simply represents the community to whom our confession belongs. Today we are much more aware of context. Sin is still sin, but today we see it with more understanding and compassion. There is a danger in compartmentalizing the sin and the sinner, and surrounding them with absolutes.

One of the students defined sin as “an alienation that causes separation [from God] that cascades down through the ages. For me sin is anything that gets between you and God. It's always the small things, because they sneak in as little things that eventually build up and get in the way of your relationship with God. Sin is always a violation of the relationship. Sins against God, sins against family, and sins against neighbors all have one thing in common. It breaks these relationships and separates us from God.

The Sin of the Genesis story was an inordinate desire of humans to be like God and make the rules. As a result we hide from god and must contend with sin (separation from God). The instructor asked the question, “What is a sin? Is it to feel the tendency to sin, or act on it, or live it out? During the discussion, another one of the students asked, “Is it possible to sin against ourselves”, which to me seemed like a strange question. Each of us may not be responsible for our first thought, but we are responsible for our second thought. It’s acting on that second thought, even in our minds, that constitutes sin.

There is a deadening of the sense of sin coming from eastern religions. For instance Buddhism has no deity. Freedom is more important in the West and less important in the East, just as decision making is more personal in the West and more of a group effort in the East. Faith seems to be "on the wane", partly do to the attempt to explain things without the need for a God. Without someone to blame (a personal god) there is no sin, and without sin we don't need God or Jesus.

Assimilation of cultural values on which Christianity can build on remains important. For instance we should follow the teaching of Confucius regarding self examination, and do it three times per day as he suggested. What are the Christian values that Christianity can build on? Today of course we need religion and love more than ever. Love is the key; love of God, love of self, love of neighbor, and love of nature are all part of being human. We are in a battle for our lives and our humanity. The more we are aware of our inner life the more we become aware of what Jesus wants for our lives.

The class separated into small groups to discuss a prayer verse. Our first verse was from Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth ... But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven”. Each of us had slightly different interpretations (of course) but it seemed to me that the treasures of earth are like the seven deadly sins from our earlier discussion, because we are inwardly focused. The treasures of heaven are like the seven virtues, because we are outwardly focused. We must be focused on heaven, but not at the neglect of the Kingdom of Heaven all around us.

Our second prayer verse for discussion came from Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body, if your eyes are healthy then the body is healthy”. One of the people in my group mentioned the idea that “Sin is in the eye of the beholder”. My thought was that how you see what is going on around you (as good or as evil) will either lead you closer to God or farther away.

We listed some of the virtues of prayer, such as “Prayer should be non-judgmental”, “Prayer should be a giving to God”, “God is the object of prayer”, “Dialogue is the purpose of prayer”, “Prayer should not be comparative”, “In prayer we should abandon ourselves to god”, “Prayer should have meaning”, “Prayer should be receptive”, “Prayer should be humble in words”, “Prayer is not about me, it's about God's grace within me”, “Prayer should be other directed”. Prayer is not about a public response (reward) it's about award in heaven.

Whereas virtues are quite often things we have to develop, vises are quite often the things we have a tendency toward. I was intrigued by the idea that forgiveness is NOT forgetfulness. We don’t want to forget because it is part of our journey and God was "in it". Through remembering the event you renew the grace that was God's part "in it".

There is nothing in the Bible about forgetting, and Jesus himself didn't say anything about forgetting. Forgive and forget is not the goal. After Joseph and Mary found Jesus in the temple, we're told that "Mary pondered all these things in her heart". Nothing suggests that she was trying to forget "all these things". It's about discerning all things and inviting God’s grace to bless us with understanding.

I was also intrigued when someone pointed out that the social networking sites, such as Facebook, are all about "Look at me". During the discussion someone else pointed out that although the Lowercase "i" in ipod stands for "Integrated" device it also invokes the “I” suggesting a personal pronoun. After this, the instructor introduced the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector as the Republican and tax collector which drew a laugh from the class and embarrassment by the instructor.

A student in the class told a story about a friend who had an issue against him and was unable to pray a couple of lines in the Our Father. He would remain silent during the part "to forget our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". This had really brought home the idea of sin against the community since his friend was affectively unable to pray. The student did mention that after reconciliation (and some time I imagine) they were able to resolve whatever it was.

This reinforces the social nature of sin, in that it doesn't occur in isolation; it hurts others. Another interesting point was that the vices take more energy than virtues. It’s harder to be tense all the time! The vices are about taking more for yourself, and the virtues are about more for others. Each of us must embody the virtues, working on them as we can, to grow in faith.

During a segment on the Saints, our instructor pointed out the gifts that have been given to them have in fact been given to us; the Church is an institution, the Church is us, and the Church as community in time and space. It includes all the saints that have come before us and everyone that comes after us.

Saint Francis believed that the Eternal Flame of Love is the energy and power of God that we find throughout the universe. The themes found in the various stories of the book "The Little Flowers of St. Francis" include: Spiritual friendship is essential. It is impossible to navigate our spiritual life without friendship. How we confront our demons is characteristic of our trust in God. Dealing with external monsters is not as important as how we deal with the internal monsters. Betrayal must be confronted. There is a powerful draw to "Go back to Jesus" to see the correct way to live.

A willingness to live for Christ is a powerful witness to others. You may not always know the fruit of your labor. Very often we don't know the goals of God, or the path through which people come to know Jesus. Generosity in all things is the lesson, and is sometimes more important than the story behind the lesson. Your example can inspire others to finish what you start. Nothing is impossible for God.