August 16, 2004

"Travailing Prayer"

We are called to the Cross.  We are called to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, and that's where He goes.  That's why He came.  Our baptismal consecration invites us, all of us, to live Jesus and His Cross as victim lambs.  The first time God put victimhood in my heart, I became fearful.  I was in the novitiate in the cloister at the time.  He began speaking to me of victimhood.  The way He explained it to me was by leading me to the writings of St. Therese, the Little Flower.  She understood victomhood so beautifully.  She was consecrated to God as victim, but as a victim of His love.  He began to show me that He looks for victims of His love.  He need victims of His love because there are not a lot of people who want to receive His love.

We experience a lot of rejection in our culture.  We know a lot of people who are in terrible pain today because of rejection.  But our rejection is nothing compared to the rejection of God-not only the rejection while He was on the earth but the rejection that continues today.  This was what He was asking the Little Flower to do-to be open and receive His merciful love.  It's really painful to love someone who doesn't want your love.  So there's pain in the heart of God.  And so we, because of Baptism, because of our consecration, are saying, "We will answer Your invitation to be little victim souls, little victim lambs."  He says, "Thank you.  I'll just love you to death then."  And He does-every day if we let Him.

In John 15:12 we read, "Love one another as I have loved you."  This is the New Commandment.  In the Old Testament, they weren't able to love in this way.  They didn't have that presence of God within them like we do.  This commandment can only be kept with Jesus, in Jesus, and through Jesus because the condition of loving one another is, "As I have loved you."  Jesus has loved us from the Cross.  He has loved us unto death.  He gave His entire life to love us.  Now that's what He is asking us to do-to give ourselves totally-everything.  He wants it to be our lifestyle.

We've heard, "It's the life that prays."  That's true.  It is the life that prays, but it's the life of Jesus Christ within us that prays.  We always have to remember that there's only one Intercessor-it's Jesus.  There's only one Mediator-it's Jesus.  There's only one High Priest-it's Jesus.  Jesus has taken up residency within our hearts.  He is here.

In Romans 8:26, we read about the travail of the Holy Spirit.  You know, the travail where there isn't any words.  It's just your life.  Sometimes it comes out in groaning.  That's the travail of the Holy Spirit.  And so "in union with the intercessory travail of the Holy Spirit, we join the Suffering Servant as burden-bearers" (Our Holy Rule, p. 8).  The Suffering Servant is depicted beautifully in Isaiah 53.  That's our calling.  There He goes, and He's asking us to follow Him.  It's travail because there are times when we can't pray, but our life can pray. 

We have a friend who was in travailing prayer several years ago in a different type of way, but the Holy Spirit was groaning within her.  Her family had put together a video of their mother who was no longer living.  It was a very special video of remembrance for the family.  They sent it to her to watch, and when she went to rewind it, somehow she erased it, and there were no other copies. 

Well, she was devastated.  When you're in that state, you don't even know how to pray.  So she did the best she could.  She went and visited the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  She went to God, and she said that all she could do was say, "Oh, God.  Oh, God.  Oh, God."  She did that for about two hours. She just said, "Oh, God. Oh, God.  Oh, God."  That was it. That is good prayer.  That's travailing with the Holy Spirit.  When she came home and put the tape back in the VCR, just to try it one more time, it worked!  So if that's the best you can do, know that's good prayer.  Jesus didn't say a lot on the Cross, but what He did say was very costly.  But look at the fruit of His prayer!  That was lived prayer.  Our Lady's whole prayer was her life and her lifestyle.

At these times, we shouldn't think that we're not praying because we're not saying prayers or receiving something in prayer.  If we are faithful to our time with the Lord, especially when the cross is really heavy and all we can do is travail with the Holy Spirit, believe me, that's still powerful prayer because it's the Holy Spirit.  It's the Holy Spirit travailing within us and God hears that.  God always answers the call of the poor, and no one is in deeper poverty than when a person is in pain or suffering.  It is a powerful type of prayer. 

Burden-bearing is another level of intercession.  It becomes a way of life.  But we don't decide the burdens; Jesus does.  So if we feel, "Oh, I really need to ask God to carry this cross or that cross"-fine, if we want to but that doesn't mean that God is going to let us.  He's a very loving Father.  He knows what we can handle.  Sometimes we ask for things that we haven't any idea of what we're asking for.  We have our moments of extreme generosity.  We think that we can take on the whole world.  We may tell God, "Let me have that cross.  Let me suffer.  Let me do this or let me do that so that they can have this and that."  Well, that's wonderful, and God may honor our request but He may not.  A parent doesn't give a child everything he or she asks for.  The parent knows what's best.  The Father knows what's best so let Him decide.  But anytime that we are terribly burdened, we shouldn't think that God has laid a burden on us beyond what we can carry.  He never will do that.  Never.  He said, "My grace is enough for you" (2Cor 12:9).  "I'll give you only what you can handle.  I want you to take care of it.  I will give you the necessary grace to do it."

And so we become burden-bearers.  There are times when we don't feel any burdens.  Maybe it's a time to rest.  Maybe the heavy intercession has been given to others.  God has many intercessors.  He has many friends.  We're not the only ones.  But there may be times when we are the only ones.  This is why contemplative prayer is so important.  We need to hear what He is saying.  We may be the only one who He wants to carry a particular burden for a particular person.  So we always have to be in that state of listening to the Lord.

Excerpt from Powers and Principalities Conference, "Sword of Blood: travailing prayer," Omaha, NE, 2003.