Prayer: The Gift of Love to all of us
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS
Prayer is a Gift from God to all of us. St. John Damascene's understanding of prayer as a gift from God is foundational in Catholic theology. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2559) directly references St. John Damascene (abt. 676-749 AD), defining prayer as "the raising of one's mind and heart to God, or the requesting of good things from God," emphasizing that prayer is both a gift and a response. This understanding is rooted in the belief that God initiates prayer within us, inviting us into a relationship with Him.
Para. 2562: Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain.
It is in our heart where we meet the Lord. If we wage war with our neighbor, the Lord isn’t interested in our pleas for help. The world is increasingly a dangerous place, with terrorist threat, people suspicious and distrustful of one another, where God is more often forgotten than not. I thank Him for leading me to prayer, as I hope He will lead you to prayer also, so that we will continue to honor His Kingship, His love for us. When we do not accept this love, we go completely astray. We leave ourselves open to temptation and our defenses are down. But when we listen to Him, to the Holy Spirit as He whispers to us what we should do (see para 2650), we are strengthened to withstand temptation and other evils.
From the first minute of the day, after we awaken, we are (perhaps dimly) aware of God's Grace. Breakfast might consist of cereal grains, from His bounty, milk, coffee, all natural products that came about from His love. No matter what we do during any given day, you can bet on it that God had something to do with it, and this should come as no surprise since the Gift of our lungs, the air we breathe, is what keeps us going.
Thanks to a few years of schooling, good mentors, beautiful parents who told us the right things, and a loving teacher, the Holy Spirit, who keeps inspiring us, so that we can be set free by the Truth, we know that He is with us always. So do make time for Him, and especially for Mary, our Mother. Ask Mary to intercede for us that we will always honor her Son, and never do anything that is inappropriate. God's love really is all free. It costs us nothing. All we have to do is accept it, and love Him, and love our Sisters and Brothers more than we love ourselves. Therein lies the key - a person who loves the self too much in proportion to loving God and other people, is someone who is living dangerously. All things not of God, and most of all, sin in some form or another, take us away from that budding friendship in our heart and soul between Master and subject. It diverts our attention from goodness and peace, and as long as we live in this dangerous world full of temptation, we cannot afford to take our eyes off the Lord.
Peace and all Good,
Fred Schaeffer, OFS
May 25, 2025
Researching these texts was done with AI. /fss