Monday 3rd week of Advent
"Mt 21:23-27"
The chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
We don't often see someone coming to You, Lord, with a question and going away without an answer, but of course, not everyone was ready to listen. There are people who pray and talk to You, Lord, but do not want to listen to Your Voice for fear that You may say something that can complicate their lives.
Prayer is a dialogue. A dialogue involves listening and talking. But we sometimes spend our prayer time asking for things, venting our problems or just getting distracted with a text or our own thoughts, never giving God time to reply. 'Silence' is an important part of our prayer. That's God's turn to speak. If we spend the whole time talking, God has no time to answer.
A young man made a long trip to visit a wise old priest and asked him to teach him to pray. The old priest lifted his index finger and said, "Listen, my son..." The lad quickly took a notebook from his pocket to start writing down his words. "I'm listening Father. What else?" said the youngster. "There is nothing else. Just listen," replied the priest. To learn to pray, learn to listen. Our prayer is a dialogue where we talk and listen because God listens and talks as well. But remember that God is the main character here: "What is essential is not what we say but what God tells us and what He tells others through us. In silence He listens to us; in silence He speaks to our souls. In silence we are granted the privilege of listening to His voice" (St Teresa of Calcutta).
Mary, Master of Prayer, teach me to converse with God.
Tuesday 1st week of Advent
"Lk 10:21-24"
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
God reveals Himself and the secrets of His Wisdom to whoever He chooses. The 'wise and learned' try to find the truth without God, but... how can you seek the truth without the 'Truth'? History is full of saints who have been very simple, had no university degrees or didn't even know how to write and yet they knew God better and did more for the conversion of the world than many theologians. Children with wisdom and composure that defied the people of their times.
On 13th August 1917 the three shepherds of Fatima were put in prison with common criminals to scare them into revealing the secret that Our Lady commanded them to keep. When one of the prisoners advised the little shepherds to tell the administrator the secret, St Jacinta (who was 8 years old) said, "Never, I'd rather die." And then she took off a medal and asked a prisoner to hang it up for her on a nail in the wall. Kneeling before this medal, they began to pray the rosary. Then the most amazing thing happened: the prisoners, all of them, one by one, knelt down and started praying with them! You can imagine the face of the administrator (who had put the children in prison to frighten them) when they got the whole bunch of criminals to pray the rosary on their knees.
Humility teaches us that there are mysteries that we don't understand. In fact, as St Josemaría used to say, "If God fitted into this poor head of mine, my God would be very small." But even if God doesn't fit into our 'heads', He still fits into the 'hearts' of those who become like little children.
Advent is a special time to grow in spiritual childhood, to contemplate the coming of Our Lord with the eyes of a child. My Mother, during the Novena, help me to be like a child, and to know your Son better every day.