HOW TO PRAY
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 28, 2024 at 12:00AM in Sermons
“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”—LUKE Xviii. 13.
1. One prayed and offended God; the other prayed and was justified. Why?
2. Not that we are as bad as the Pharisee; but it would be better for us to be more like the Publican.
3. Perhaps we resent being classed with him, a sinner. 4. How did the saints pray?
How many of us at times have wondered why our Blessed Lord spoke only of two kinds of prayer, the Pharisee's and the Publican's. Where do we come in —we ordinary, everyday kind of Catholics? Surely we are scarcely as proud and presumptuous as the Pharisee, whose very prayer was turned into sin and offended God; and, on the other hand, perhaps in our own hearts, we almost resent being classed with the Publican. And yet our Lord, divine truth and wisdom, made no reference to such as we think we are --not so bad as either.
Let us not be too complacent. Our Lord describes a man who was well instructed, outwardly irreproachable, a model man as he thought himself, and yet he knew not how to pray. He mistook vainglory, boastfulness, attitudinizing, as prayer; he disdains his neighbour, he praised himself instead of the Almighty! Whereas the other, humble in the consciousness of his sinfulness and frailty, besought the mercy of God. Short was his prayer, but it was from the heart. He found mercy and was justified. It was mercy that he needed; mercy that he longed for and prayed for; and mercy that was granted him.
The Pharisee knew not how to pray, because he did not realize his need of God's mercy, but trusted in his own self-righteousness. The Publican knew his need of God's mercy, prayed for it and obtained it. According, then, to our realizing our need of mercy, our prayer will be acceptable and blessed. If we resent in our hearts being classed with sinners, needy and weak and prone to evil, we are not in the state of humility, which longs for and receives the mercy of our Father from heaven. Without prayer we cannot be saved, and there can be no genuine prayer unless we realize our need of grace and mercy. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity" (1 John i. 8, 9). They need not be glaring sins, that the world looks askance at; but whose heart has not been defiled in thought, word, or deed ? Have we never disobeyed a commandment through self-seeking, self-indulgence, or wilful negligence? Then do we not need to pray that such sins should be forgiven, and for grace lest again we relapse and forfeit God's friendship?
Our need of grace and mercy is evident, and the means to obtain every blessing is humble prayer. "By all prayer and supplication, praying at all times,” says St. Paul (Eph. vi. 18). And David teaches us to pray: "Help me, O Lord my God, save me according to Thy mercy" (Ps. cix. 26). Thou art plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee" (Ps. xxxv. 5). And God's mercy is not only to forgive, but to keep us safe and strengthen us to be faithful. In answer to prayer there is God's constant watchfulness and the care of a loving Father. Prayer makes us mindful of God's mercy and anxious to correspond to His graces, and be faithful in observance. It makes us grateful for our Father's care and solicitude. And gratitude merits a continuation of God's favours. The kindness of God is revealed to us in prayer. How does the Scripture describe the goodness of God? "Thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful: patient, and of much mercy" (Ps. lxxxv. 15). The Lord is gracious, merciful, patient, and plenteous in mercy. The Lord is sweet to all; and His tender mercies are above all His works" (Ps. cxliv. 9).
It is prayer that creates this peace and trustfulness in God; that made the austerities of the saints a foretaste of the joys of heaven. They were wisely humble enough to know that they could not do without the mercy of God, and yet trustful that they could obtain it and every grace if they prayed for it. How different our prayers would be if we realized our need of the mercy of God, and how prayer would always obtain it for us, if we humbly sought it. The saints did, and constant was their earnest, humble prayer. Who are we to dare to be self-sufficient, and imagine we need not pray for forgiveness of the past? Pray to make a good beginning once again; pray to persevere, for without it we cannot hope to persevere, a day or an hour, in doing good.
Let us recall a prayer of St. Gertrude. It reads as if a poor sinner, like the Publican, had composed it; and not a great saint, who was favoured with the gift of miracles, had frequent visions of our Blessed Lord, and who was the first to introduce devotion to the Sacred Heart. This is the prayer: "O sweet mercy of God, full of tenderness and clemency, behold, in the sorrow and pressing need of my heart, I seek safety in Thy loving Will, for Thou art my whole hope and trust. Thou hast never despised one sad and sorrowful. Thou hast never rejected the vilest sinner. Thou hast never abandoned one seeking help. Thou hast never passed by one in grievous trouble without a look of mercy. The needy and poor Thou dost always assist, as a mother her child. To all invoking Thy most holy name Thy loving assistance is given. And even unworthy me, Thou wilt not cast from Thee on account of my sins and my unworthy life" (Exer. c. vii.). Let us implore our Lord to grant us the spirit of such prayer as this. We shall not then be ashamed to use the prayer of the Gospel, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Frequently and from our heart let us say it, and we shall be justified in the sight of God." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (10th Sunday after Pentecost)
