Meeting My Friend Jesus in Prayer
Part of my daily prayer includes reading an Invitation to Prayer found in a book of reflections published by the Jesuits. Last week the invitation read:
“Have you ever prepared to meet someone who mattered a lot to you? You reach the door of the room where your friend is waiting and pause before opening the door. St. Ignatius suggests this picture as a preparation for prayer. Gather yourself with your hand on the door knob and think: Something important is about to happen to me. Somebody important is waiting for me. I am walking onto holy ground, stepping into sacred space, going to meet the Lord of my life, the one whose name is I AM.”
What a beautiful image for us to ponder as we pray to the Lord of love; our hands on the door knob to enter into a conversation with Jesus. We have an awesome opportunity to encounter “someone who matters a lot”. Yet, how often do we enter a time of prayer with little preparation, racing to make it to Mass, just a few minutes late; rushing to say the words of “prayer” without reflection on what we mean by the words; or reaching our pew to “conduct the business” of the day.
Upon my own reflection I am aware that, more times than I’d like to admit, I find myself coming before the Lord not fully prepared for this wonderful encounter. I arrive in the church, sit in the pew and quickly begin to pray, without much thought as to with whom I am speaking. I can nonchalantly open the door of the church, open the door of my heart, open my mouth to speak and never reflect upon the importance of the encounter that is about to take place.
Our prayer is a graced experience and leads us to deeper relationship with the one who loves us beyond our imagining. We meet and interact with family, friends, co-workers and strangers, countless times each day. However, no meeting, no interaction, no encounter throughout our day is more important than that with Jesus, whether it be in the celebration of the Eucharist, in private quiet prayer or communal prayer.
Something important is about to happen to us…somebody important is waiting for us…we are walking on holy ground, entering sacred space. Rather than reaching to open the door without thought of whom we will encounter, may we ready ourselves to meet the Lord of life and fully experience the meeting with the one who matters most…Jesus Christ.
May God Bless You,
Father Kennedy