19th Sunday Ordinary Time - A - Listening in Silent Prayer

One of the real treasures that we have in Indianapolis is Fatima Retreat House.

 It’s located on East 56^th Street next to Cathedral HS.

Some of you may have been to retreats or presentations there.

It’s really a beautiful, peaceful place.

While in deacon formation nearly all of our classes and retreats were held at Fatima.

The building and the grounds are beautiful.  It’s hard to believe that such a quiet peaceful place can be in the heart of Indianapolis.

The one thing that always comes to mind when I think about Fatima is Psalm 46:11 

‘Be still and know that I am God.’

It was displayed on the front of the lectern in the main conference room for all to see.

I thought about that passage when I read today’s readings.

Elijah hearing the voice of God in a tiny whispering sound.

And Jesus, going up the mountain by himself to pray.

Being still in prayer is something that Jesus and Elijah did.

And it's something that all of us need to do.

I ask you - what is prayer? 

We Catholics know lots of prayers.

We have the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, to name a few.

We have the Mass, the ultimate prayer of the Church.

We also know how to pray privately and spontaneously.

I’ve shared this before with all of you but it bears repeating.

I once heard the bishop of Springfield, IL use a coin to describe prayer. 

He said that one side of the coin is where we speak while God listens; the other side of the coin is where God speaks while we listen.

He said that prayer is a conversation, a dialogue between two people who love each other. 

It’s a discussion between the Creator and the created.

Most often during prayer, we seem to do all the talking while God listens.

But as the bishop of Springfield reminded me God speaks to us in prayer as well and we need to listen.

We heard in our first reading Elijah’s encounter with God up on a mountain.

Elijah didn’t hear God in the heavy wind, or in the earthquake, or in the fire.

Elijah finally heard God in a tiny whispering sound. 

In order to hear this tiny whispering sound, Elijah needed to be in a quiet place away from the hustle and bustle, away from the noise. 

In our Gospel today, after Jesus fed the multitudes, he sent his disciples off in a boat while he went up on the mountain to pray.

Like Elijah, Jesus prayed with God the Father on the mountain.

He went off by himself, in peace and solitude, so he could speak and listen to God.

Jesus left the distractions of the ‘world’ so he could communicate with the Father.

We can learn from both Jesus and Elijah how to have prayer that speaks to us.

In order to be able to hear the tiny whispering sounds we need quiet and peace in prayer. 

The noises of TV, radio, the computer, and other distractions need to be placed on hold during prayer to better hear God’s whispering.  

My friends, silence is essential for prayer as well, but it can also be prayer itself.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta had this to say:

‘We need to find God, and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees and flowers and grass--grow in silence. See the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.’

This week, let’s reflect on our prayer life.

Let’s ask ourselves:

Do I have a prayer life?

If not, why not?

If so, is my prayer life active or is it stale?

Am I allowing God to speak to me in prayer? 

Have I prepared myself to hear God’s whispers? 

We all know that we need a good prayer life. 

We also know that it’s hard to squeeze more things to do into our busy days.

Perhaps each morning we should pray “God, help me find 10 minutes today to pray so I can get to know you better.” 

As Jesus and Elijah demonstrated, let’s place ourselves on our mountain, wherever that might be, so we can hear God.

Maybe our mountain is our favorite chair, or our backyard, or the woods, or the Blessed Sacrament chapel, or Mass, or Fatima Retreat House.

The good news for all of us is that whatever mountain we are on, God is always available to us in prayer.

God wants to commune with us, to listen to us, and to talk to us. 

God loves each of us in deep and profound ways and wants each of us to hear that message, to feel His love. 

This week each time you reach in your pocket or purse for a coin, may it be a reminder to pray by speaking and listening to God. 

May it remind you to take the time to escape from life’s distractions, to climb your mountain, and to feel the love and peace of God. 

And may we remember Psalm 46:11

‘Be still and know that I am God.’