Prayer is a necessary component of every Christian’s life. For men discerning or being formed to be priests, prayer is our pathway for growing closer to the Lord and discovering what God is asking us to do with our lives. There are many different types of prayer in which we give God our time and try to grow in our love for Him. One of the most important of these is the Holy Mass, which is the “source and summit of the Christian life.” The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the Church; it is prayed throughout the day, and deacons, priests and religious promise to pray it at their ordination. There are also devotional prayers, notably the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross. Lastly, the Church has a tradition of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, either in the tabernacle or adored in a monstrance. This last type of prayer is what I would like to discuss.
In high school and college years, life can easily become a monotonous pattern of busy schedules, lack of sleep, stress, among other societal issues. Amidst all this bustle is a great combination of sounds: music, people talking, laughing, dogs barking, cars honking, etc. These are all good things; however, have you ever stopped to think how often you encounter true silence? I invite you to challenge yourself to seek out this silence, and use it in order to pray and converse with God. Our churches are refuges in this noisy world; they provide an outlet in order for us to sit or kneel in the sacramental presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in a beautiful, nourishing, silent environment.
Prayer and silence. These two concepts transformed my ownrelationship with Christ and have helped develop my vocation to the priesthood. During my senior year of high school I experienced some significant events that led me to finally begin praying authentically. I began realizing that I needed and yearned for God and wanted what he desired for my life. Through my spiritual life, I began to see myself as not just Peter, but Peter, a son of God who is loved and has a role to play in the Church so as to guide others to see God’s presence in their life.
Praying before the Blessed Sacrament can be hard at first. What do we say to God? I can attest many times that I’ve gone a chapel or church and simply let my mind run wild as the calming presence of our Lord began to transform me. I find it helpful to remember that God is real, God is a person, and our prayer life is a two way conversation. We speak, and we listen patiently for God to respond. With faith, we know that God hears our prayers and answer them in his time, according to his will.
Time, as I mentioned above is a prized commodity in the world of young adults. However, time spent with others can certainly be seen as an expression of love toward oneanother. We spend the most time with those whom we truly love to be around and consider our closest companions. This same concept of time thus should apply to God! In order to properly express our love and affection for God, our Creator and Redeemer, we should give him our time. This will certainly seem difficult in the beginning, and it would be a good idea to plan it into your schedule for the day. However, I assure you from my experiences and others close to me, that your pattern of prayer, your pattern of time spent with the Lord, will eventually not seem like a chore. It will not seem like some unimportant time of the day. It will be something treasured and loved as a necessary element of each day of your life. At this point, I truly find it difficult to understand how people go a day without some prayer or sign of affection to God. He has blessed us with so much, and our simple prayers of thanksgiving are fitting signs of affection.
I would like to end with this Scripture passage from 1 Kings 19 that helps characterize the importance of silence in our relationship with God:
[blockquote name=”1 Kings 19″]He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.[/blockquote]
God is constantly calling out to us. He thirsts for our love. He calls us by name, to do his will on earth. May those discerning God’s call to the priesthood listen in the silence like Elijah did in order to say yes!
Latest posts by Father Peter Gallagher (see all)
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