Reflections from the Heart – June 16, 2024

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“To his own disciples he explained everything in private.”  Are you tired of praying, tired of hearing others pray, tired of having others invite you into prayer or tired of someone telling you that you should pray more often?  Ever wonder why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, why Jesus would often go away alone to a private, deserted place to pray or why Jesus would sometimes invite the disciples to join him and pray with him?  How many times in the shortness of your own life have you mentioned you do not know how to pray or you cannot pray because you are too tired or you simply do not have time to pray because you are always so busy?  When was the last time you heard Jesus in private prayer or heard Jesus in the proclamation of the Gospel pray so tenderly directly to the Father for you?  Prayer is the gift that God has chosen and the grace he has provided us as the means to enter into a life-saving, life-giving relationship with God and the means to remain deeply rooted in that relationship with God for all eternity.  Prayer is how Jesus entered into the Father’s presence to discern the Father’s will, or when Jesus needed some words of comfort and encouragement, or when Jesus wanted and needed to express his love, affection, sorrow, and gratitude.  Prayer is always being in the Father’s presence, always sharing what we can give or have to offer.  Always receiving openly and graciously, what the Father wants to provide or permit.  Prayer is remaining uniquely united to the Father always and in every way because you are always aware that God is ever so present to you and you are always in his presence, so why not pray to him and ask for support, direction, guidance and assistance. If you are not praying to and with God then you are not truly happy or living a life of peace. If you do not take a moment or make some time for prayer then you are not benefiting from the life-saving, life-giving remedies that God alone provides to bring you – freedom from worry, stress and anxiousness and brings you true freedom, happiness and confidence in him alone.  If you are not praying with fervent faith, unwavering hope, and the strictest of confidence you are missing-out on the answer you desperately need to eliminate worry from your life, remove darkness and despair and heal the sadness and sorrow that come from grief.