Prayer

 Article by Father Jonathan E Moore - LINK HERE

Second Sunday of Easter 2026

 The second Sunday of Easter 2026. Through Him, with Him and in Him. Dear friends, our gospel readings throughout the whole of this Easter octave have presented us with one appearance of the risen Christ after another. 

 The three Mary's at the tomb that first Easter Sunday. Peter, John and Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb shortly afterwards. The upper room with the apostles that first Easter evening.

 The women coming away from the tomb on Monday. On Tuesday, Mary Magdalene at the tomb. Clopas and his companion on the Emmaus road on Wednesday.

 Then with the disciples back in Jerusalem on Thursday. Then by the sea of Tiberias on Friday. St Mark's summary of all of the above is the gospel on Saturday.

 This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. And we're back in the upper room again for two appearances. The first to the apostles in the absence of St Thomas and then another with Thomas there as well.

 Looking at each and every one of these appearances we can discern that each has two essential elements. An individual encounter with Jesus and an encounter shared with others. We might say that Jesus meets us alone but also wishes to meet us with others.

 It's very important to understand that our prayer and worship need to reflect both dimensions. Personal and communal. Can we define prayer? There are to be sure many rich veins of Christian spirituality to explore.

 St Augustine said true prayer is nothing but love. St John Vianney the Curie of Ars taught prayer is the union of love into which the soul plunges itself. St Therese of Lisieux wrote "for me prayer is a surge of the heart".

 It is a simple look turned toward heaven. It is a cry of recognition and of love embracing both trial and joy. Quite clearly love is essential to prayer.

 An expression of love to God whose love for us is infinite. Love however is not so much a matter of emotion as an exercise of the will. Love is a choice, a decision, we make and one for which we must make time.

 St Francis the Sales said we ought to pray for half an hour every day except when we are too busy which is when we need to pray for a whole hour. More than a thousand years ago St John Damascene gave the church a definition of prayer which has been used ever since. "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God" or "the requesting of good things from God".

 Our present catechism of the Catholic Church describes prayer as a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. Going on to say that it is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and a covenant relationship between God and humanity in Christ. So prayer involves love which is a choice to draw close to God through our Lord in a covenant relationship between God and humanity.

 Not just between one man and one woman and God; and here is the second dimension of prayer. For Jesus did not teach us to address God as "my father" but as "our father". Prayer, that most intimate expression of our relationship with God is never simply a solitary affair for it is always lived in communion with the whole Christ.

 That wonderful reality which is sometimes called the mystical body of Christ. A unity between Christ the head and the community of believers who form a part of His body in all places and all times. 

At first sight the life of an enclosed contemplative poor Claire, or Carmelite sister, might seem a very insular affair indeed.

 Not so. Saint Edith Stein wrote of her relationship with humanity in these terms. "Whoever enters Carmel and we should say whoever enters the path of prayer is not lost to their own but is theirs fully for the first time".

 It is our vocation to stand before God for all. If you look back quietly through the gospel readings of the past week you will see how our risen Lord and Saviour gently draws his friends back from their locked room of desolation and grief step by step. He goes to them in their lonely and fearful isolation, their panicked flight along the Emmaus road, the black bereavement of Mary Magdalene at the tomb, Thomas's hard-headed demand for more proof.

 Being with them once more He shares with them His merciful love, calling for their own response then drawing them with Him on God's terms, not theirs, to realise their personal vocation as sons and daughters in relationship with the eternal Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At the last supper Jesus prayed "and this is eternal life that they may know You the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent". Eternal life for each and every one of them began the moment they freely chose to enter that loving relationship.

 Eternal life for each and every one of us begins in just the same way. We are not looking forward to eternal life, a prayer in the risen Christ. It is already ours.

 What then is our Easter prayer all about? It is the moment when by God's grace we pray as part of our Lord's mystical body, united with and in the Father's plan for humanity. Prayer is not just something that happens when I'm in church or saying the rosary at home. Prayer is not something I do at certain times.

 As the hymn says, the voice of prayer is never silent. Prayer is something you are part of. Prayer places us at the very heart of the church, living in communion with all the members of Christ's body.

 Do you remember the Christmas carol which says the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight? Well when we stand in the presence of the Father with Jesus in the name of all, presenting to the Father the hopes, fears, joys and sorrows of all people and begging us to bless and keep us, we are at prayer. Amen. 

God bless you my dear friends and please remember to pray for me.