Called to remember!

 Unusually, we celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day over this weekend. We remember our call to be saints, as well as those who have died. This dual call embodies the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The recognition that our external actions mirror our internal sense of who we are called to become. This call to be saints and to pray for others is at the heart of these two commemorations.

  When I read CS Lewis' book A Grief Observed, he noticed that in the midst of his sadness, whether it was directed to prayers for his deceased wife or towards himself. This can be our own experience of loss, where we feel like people standing in an empty cave, shouting into the dark. As we speak the person's name, we start to hear the echo of our own voice. This echo can disturb us because we wonder how deeply the wound that we feel may be healed. We don't want to just be people who become enveloped by the silence that can settle upon us. Yet the very act of remembering the person can lead to noticing that this same place of silence contains a wound of love. It is from this place of love that we feel the bittersweet taste of what it is to grieve the loss of someone we love and who has loved us.

As people called to become saints, we also notice how we reach out to others with this emptiness. This is not just to fill our emptiness with activity but rather to offer our availability for the good of another. It is the paradox of our faith that we surrender everything so that people may discover a space in which they can become themselves. By offering even our poverty of emptiness we can discover a God who can meet us even at the time when we feel most bereft of answers. 

What prayers are heard by God?

 There is often a temptation to pray in a particular way for our prayers to be heard by God. This can cause us to put more effort into our time of worship, looking for the right words, the right actions and the right intention if it is to be "successful". The aim is simple: I need to receive from God the effort I put in. Yet often our prayers focus on who we think we should be rather than who we are. God listens to the heartfelt prayer that simply meets us in our poverty, neediness and dependence.

This is evident in the parable about the Pharisee and the publican. This is not just by an exterior display of piety but an inward conversion of heart. This involves a surrender of our whole self to God, recognising our deepest longing and our utter dependence on God. We see it too in the reading from Ecclesiasticus, where it is in allowing our story to be heard that our hearts may be read. This listening heart of God is like an arrow that pierces the clouds with a pure intent. God listens to what is most heartfelt.

This is the race we are called to be part of, seeking God daily. This is a perseverance that sees our effort in prayer as an encounter with God standing by us in power. This is not just focusing on myself, but seeking God who runs with us in the race of life.  Stay in the race and pray as you can.

Persistance in prayer

 The image of the unjust judge and the persistent widow seems strange for our relationship to God. We often find that our prayer transforms how we relate to God and to others as ourselves. What might start out as an actual need to see justice and a remedy to our problems develops into a faithfulness that purifies our intention. We no longer just seek a particular outcome, but we strive to deepen a relationship that will resolve the heart of the problem. The aim is not to bend God to our will, but to notice how it helps us grow in faith. This is a faith that actually trusts our whole life to God as a way of living.

We see this in Exodus, where Moses is supported in a practical way by Aaron and Hur, who hold up his arms when he faces the assault of Amalek. In this example, it is a reminder that our prayer draws together a community of faith that stands with and supports us. They help us persevere in the face of odds that can seem overwhelming if we try to tackle them on our own. This practical intercession reminds us that where two or three are gathered in prayer, God is with them. 

St Paul also encourages Timothy to be guided by the living Word of Scripture. This helps us notice what builds community by being guided to live wholesome lives. This way of life, or holiness, prepares us to perform good works out of a desire to manifest the love of God to others. The good works are not an end in themselves but an expression of how God works through us. This obedient listening to God allows us to be patient with others in gently correcting and guiding them to learn the truth of the Gospel. May God guide us to discern what brings life, love, and hope to our world.