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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
In the song Take it to the Lord in prayer, which I believe many of us know, one of the lines is Take it to the Lord in prayer. Have we trials and temptation Is there trouble anywhere We should never be discouraged Take it to the Lord in prayer.
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There is something about us as human beings, whether you are a Christian or any other religion. We can call it a universal problem: that is, the hatred we feel for other people, hatred that wells up inside us and propels us in the direction of destructive actions toward people who might have harmed us in some way. Nevertheless, these are fellow human beings who we must live with in society or community. Try to imagine for yourself, an individual you hate or just can’t stand, someone who irritates you to no end, who you resent and feel bitterness towards. I am sure most of us have someone like that, in many cases multiple people in our lives who cause us anger or hatred or at least resentment, for something they have, or they keep doing to us.
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Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can say my little, office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?” then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire, and he said to him, “If you will, you can become all flames”. There is also a quotation from John Piper which goes like this, "People don’t enjoy salt. They enjoy what is salted.” These two situations imply that it is not enough to live a pious life for ourselves, but we must strive to become a transformative power into people’s lives.
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Some of us here are grandparents, parents, or even guardians. We have been or still are involved in the noble work of raising children into good, responsible, faith-filled adults. We give them all the parental love there is for a person to grow into a well-integrated individual. It is also possible that many of you have had situations where those being raised manifest behaviors that reflect stubbornness, rejecting the path you are trying to provide for them. Worse still, as teenagers, they retort, tell all kinds of lies, mock or ridicule you assuming that they are grown up, and they are free to chart their own course, making your life miserable. When in trouble then they call for help. As good parents, we always come back with love, care and forgiveness sometimes trying even to enable their dysfunctional behavior. Looking into our past, maybe we were not so different.
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There are two things in our lives as believers that are essential and yet complicated. That is; ambition verses divine calling. Ambition stems from individual desires to build a platform and achieve specific results. Calling stems from a form of surrender to God’s will to glorify God. Ambition often seeks control and personal legacy. Calling requires obedience and willingness to discern what the Lord is calling you for. Ambition often breeds anxiety and pressure “to climb the ladder”. Calling produces inner peace and contentment, even when the path is difficult.
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In one of the dialogues that we hold with our temporary professed members, this individual asked me a question that was quite challenging, and it threw me off a bit. He asked why or what makes us invite someone to leave the seminary when we read in the scriptures that Jesus gave second chance to people like Zaccheus and Peter, and even made Peter to become the foundation or the rock on which the Catholic church is built. After an extended period of silence and reflection, I responded something to the effect, that, for Peter he was more than willing to begin afresh, he was ready to engage in a loving, personal, relationship with Jesus after having denied him. Jesus asked him publicly three times as way of providing him with the opportunity to make a new beginning in his relationship with him. So, I told this gentleman that we ask people to leave if we see a persistent pattern coupled with unwillingness to work through transformation.
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