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J.M.J August 9, 2012 St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) Dear Family of Mary! "Dear children! Today I invite you to prayer of the heart. Throughout this season of grace I wish each of you to be united with Jesus, but without unceasing prayer you cannot experience the beauty and greatness of the grace which God is offering you. Therefore, little children, at all times fill your heart with even the smallest prayers. I am with you and unceasingly keep watch over every heart which is given to me. Thank you for having responded to my call." (February 25, 1989) Our Lady wants us to experience God. She wants us to know Him in the depths of our hearts, to truly encountered Him in prayer. It can't be just an idea of God that we worship. It has to be Jesus Himself, the Father Himself, the Spirit Himself, that we meet in prayer in such a way that we can say we KNOW them. St. Teresa Benedicta wrote so well about an encounter with God in prayer: "It is not a mere acceptance of the message of faith that has been heard, nor a mere turning of oneself to God, who is known only from hearsay, rather it is an interior being touched and an experience of God that has the power to detach the soul from all created things..." (from The Science of the Cross: Collected Works of Edith Stein, Vol. 5, as quoted in the August Magnificat Magazine p. 121) St. Teresa had experienced God in prayer, or she couldn't have written so well about it. To be united with Jesus and to experience the beauty and greatness of the grace He offers, we must pray, and pray unceasingly from the heart. Two other women of the 20th century wrote much about prayer. One is St. Faustina. She wrote about a small prayer that sent her often into a swoon, she was so filled with God's presence: January 2, 1937. The Name of Jesus. Oh, how great is Your Name, O Lord! It is the strength of my soul. When my strength fails, and darkness invades my soul, Your Name is the sun whose rays give light and also warmth, and under their influence the soul becomes more beautiful and radiant, taking its splendor from Your Name. When I hear the sweetest name of Jesus, my heartbeat grows stronger, and there are times when, hearing the Name of Jesus, I fall into a swoon. My spirit eagerly strains toward Him. (Diary 862) Well, such a small prayer with such big results! Just repeating the Name of Jesus brings about an encounter with Him. We can all pray in that way! And Caryll Houselander mentions another "small" prayer that works so well for her: But say the memorare often-the result of it is wonderful, as I have learnt lately. I seldom say prayers by heart, or say much at all, but I was persuaded to say this prayer by a convert Jew, so to please him I did, and have found the answers to it astonishing. Some people think it foolish to ask God for little things, but I do not think it matters at all what one asks for, so long as in asking for anything one recognizes one's own dependence on God, His fatherhood and His longing to give Himself, no matter in what way. Sometimes a tiny childish thing brings home to us more than a big thing the intense love which can make Omnipotence concerned, for our sakes, with trifles. (Caryll Houselander. The Letters of Caryll Houselander.p. 126) Even the smallest prayer, for the smallest thing, can unite us with God in the best way."Therefore, little children, at all times fill your heart with even the smallest prayers." Yes, we are little children. Yes, it is probably true that we do best with the smallest of prayers, prayed from our hearts for what we need, all day long. These prayers can unite us with Omnipotence, who wants to take care of every little thing. Are we not the most beloved of children!! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2012 PS. A new Fruit of Medjugorje show is scheduled for tonight, Thursday, August 10, at 8:00 pm EDT!! Don't miss it! www.marytv.tv |
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