Wednesday, October 5 : Saint John Damascene

“Jesus was praying alone” (Lk 9:18). Prayer has its source in silence and interior peace, for it is there that God’s glory manifests itself (cf. Lk 9:29). Because when, closing our eyes and ears, we find ourselves within in God’s presence; when, freed from the world’s busyness, we are present within ourselves: then will we clearly see the Kingdom of God in our souls. For the Kingdom of Heaven, or – if one prefers it – the Kingdom of God is within us. Jesus, our Lord, has said so (Lk 17:21). However, both believers and our Lord pray in a different way. Servants draw near in prayer to their Master with fear mixed with desire and, for them, prayer becomes a journey to God and towards union with him, feeding and strengthening them with his own substance. But how does Christ pray – he whose holy soul is united to the Word of God ? How could our Lord stand in an attitude of petition ? If he does so, is it not because, having put on our nature, he desires to teach us and show us the way that, through prayer, enables us to rise towards God ? Isn’t it that he wants to teach us how praying conceals the glory of God within it ?
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team