Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading is about the importance and power of prayer. St. James advised Christian disciples to pray when someone is suffering and/or sick, for each other, and for those who have wandered away from the faith. He wrote, “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful,” (Jas 5:16). I remember when I was an RCIA sponsor, the catechumen I was sponsoring asked me for recommendations on prayers to pray. Even though she was asking for specific formulaic prayers, I told her to just talk to God instead. Weeks later, during a small group discussion during an RCIA session, she spoke about how helpful her conversations with God were to her faith. As St. Alphonse Liguori in his work Selected Writings wrote, “Never forget the sweet presence of God, as do the majority of people. Talk to God as often as you can, for he never tires of listening to you as do the great ones of this earth.... Tell him everything that happens to you; tell him about all your concerns just as you would to a dearest friend." If we are to deepen our relationship with God, especially as a “dearest friend”, we need to encounter and spend time with God, which is done through prayer.
Prayer allows us to be open to the Holy Spirit’s actions just as Fr. David Fleming, SM, a previous Superior General of the Society of Mary (Marianists) wrote, “The Spirit wells up within us in the life of prayer,” (“The Life of Personal Prayer,” 3). The Spirit develops our faith. Faith in turn doesn’t just become a set of beliefs for us. It becomes a life of deep and genuine conviction of God’s love for us and others. In prayer, we become attentive to the movement of the Spirit in our lives, which compels us to live out the Gospel.
As today is the Foundation Day of the Marianist Sisters, the religious congregation of Sisters I’m part of, I cannot help but think of the value of prayer in the life of our Foundress Blessed Marie of the Conception (also known as Blessed Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon). She is an example of someone who put prayer at the center of her life, leading her to a deep trust in God particularly during the foundation of the Marianist Sisters. “After all, dear friend, let us put everything into the hands of God. If it is God’s work, he will see to it that it succeeds in spite of all our troubles…. Let us, therefore, abandon everything to the most lovable will of God and remain at peace,” (Letter dated 1/11/1816 to Agathe Diché). This trust continued in the midst of the joys of growth and challenges of illnesses and early deaths of Sisters during the beginnings of the congregation. She was steadfast in her faith due to her deep prayer life.
Today is also the Feast of Mary Help of Christians (also celebrated May 24). Mary was a person of deep faith and prayer and an example for us as to how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we can also ask her to pray for us. I would like to end this reflection with “A Marianist Litany of Mary” by Joseph Lackner, SM:
Mother of comfort and understanding,
—Pray for us.
Mother who shares our joys,
—Pray for us.
Mother who endures our sorrows,
—Pray for us.
Woman willing to believe the impossible,
—Pray for us.
Woman, graced by a husband’s love,
—Pray for us.
Woman, widowed by a husband’s death,
—Pray for us.
Queen of integrity,
—Pray for us.
Queen of destiny,
—Pray for us.
Queen of peace,
—Pray for us.
[Feel free to add your own Marian title(s)]
—Pray for us.
—Sr. Emily Sandoval, FMI