HOLY IS THIS TIME - #6

Those who are beginners at prayer will often turn to seasoned Christians for guidance and help. Those experienced in prayer could suggest a variety of tools that can assist us in our daily contact with God. Prayer enables us to engage God, the source of our lives and the destiny of our years. Christians could help beginners by explaining the different tools that are available for a vital prayer life. These include silent meditation, inspirational and reflective reading, imaginative reflection and guided meditation, music and chant, repetitive prayers such as the Rosary and the Jesus Prayer, centering prayer and contemplative prayer. Several practical books of prayers can help beginners to develop a personal depth and a rich devotional prayer. Lives that are rooted in the Sunday Eucharist and the daily regimen of the church's liturgical prayer are wondrous examples of the many rich banquet that God offers to those who pray.

Christians sanctified time by praying in tune with the cosmic rhythms of the day. Sunrise was a new creation. Three o'clock in the afternoon was the hour during which the Lord handed over his life for us on the cross. Sundown marked the end of work and the beginning of shared repast at the family table.

When the early church communities taught newcomers how to pray, they handed over to them the text of the Lord's Prayer. This prayer sums up the entire Gospel. It contains the entire gospel message in miniature. The first commentary on prayer is given in the gospel of Saint Matthew. The teaching comes right after the Beatitudes and is a mini-instruction on prayer. Later the Syriac church document, Didache (The Teaching), is the first church document to offer a commentary on the Lord's Prayer.

The very vital churches of the Mediterranean offered one to two kinds of commentaries. The first kind of commentary was catechetical. It was intended for those preparing for baptism. Tertullian, the great North African theologian, presented a commentary for the catechumens. He took each petition of the prayer and explained it. Then Cyprian, his disciple, offered a commentary for the people of his church who faced persecution and martyrdom. Later Saint Augustine wrote a commentary in his work on the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. The second kind of commentary was mystical. Origen, one of the greatest Christian scholars, wrote a systematic treatment on prayer and, in particular, the Lord's Prayer. Gregory of Nyssa also wrote a commentary for the Christian in the marketplace.

Christian teachers and writers have returned to the Lord's Prayer again and again. Calvin and other Protestant reformers wrote commentaries and modern writers relate the prayer to their situations. The first petitions teach us the way to approach God. Our Father: God is Abba, dearest Daddy, an intimate way to address God. God is ours, a God who knows each of us by name. God's name is hallowed and God's kingdom and God's will are the Christian's first priority. The Christian then turns to God for the needs of life: daily bread, forgiveness, reconciliation, and perseverance in times of trial and despair. Each Christian really writes a commentary on the Lord's Prayer by one's life of prayer, discipleship, and experience.