Graced by a moment during Communion: it dawned on me the prayer I’ve said daily for well nigh a year now (based on one of the few sappy ‘70s hymns that I actually like!) was reflected back to me.
The original lyrics go:
“Take our bread, we ask you take our hearts, we love you take our lives.”
And I pray, “take my bread [thinking ‘help me to give of my wealth'], take my heart ['let me have pure motives'], take my life [‘direct me towards you'].”
But the lyrics apply to Him as well as if he were speaking to us: “Take My bread, take My Heart, take My Life”. “Take” as in “this is for you”. I’m always tempted to think I am making an effort to give first to him without realizing he’d already done the same towards me.
___
Also thought about how Mary, the new Eve without original Sin, before the visit from Gabriel presumably prayed for a messiah to save Israel and we see her prayer was answered in a way so amplified. The effectiveness of a prayer coming from a human without sin or even Original Sin must’ve been profound, and indeed it was effectuated to an extent far exceeding Mary’s wish.
"The prayer of a righteous man avails much” goes the psalm, so imagine the prayer of the only truly righteous human other than Jesus. And we don’t have to imagine since we see the result, having experienced the fruit of her prayer on Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment