Over the past two weeks we—like Queen Esther praying to the Lord God of Israel for the salvation of her people—have “fled to our God, seized with deadly anxiety” for the people of Ukraine. We trust utterly in God’s goodness and compassion, and in God’s power to establish justice, right and a reign of peace in this world, against the destructive will of the enemies of the human.
However, as we flee time and again to take refuge from evil in the indestructible goodness of God, let us not forget this: God our Father knows what we, his children, need before we even ask him, even before we become conscious of this need. Therefore, we do not pray because God somehow needs to be informed about what is going on in the world, about how much people are suffering, nor does God need to be persuaded by us to activate (finally!) the power of his love and intervene to set aright horrible situations such as the present genocidal invasion in Eastern Europe. No! What kind of an ignorant and hard-hearted deity would that be?
Indeed,
the need to pray is ours! We urgently need to turn to God over and
over. We need to acknowledge God,
continually and fervently, as the One from whom everything that is good comes. Our
humble and insistent prayer is this acknowledgment put into concrete action. In
this way, by channeling all our anxiety and sorrow toward God, we open up our
whole being to the reception of grace. Our very act of ardent prayer, kindled
by the fire of the Holy Spirit, makes our hearts capable of receiving and fully
embracing God’s gifts—all the good things God yearns to give us—both for
ourselves and for all in distress, in whatever manner and at whatever time
Grace freely chooses to act. Trustful
waiting with patient love for this moment and manner to arrive is the sign that
we have become attuned to the workings of God’s Heart and have allowed his
Presence to make its dwelling place in ours.
Photograph by Brother Brian. Meditation by Father Simeon.