RBWords - Volume 27 - Number 7: July 2014
Something to Think About
One of my Dominican brethren here at Holy
Rosary Priory received a book recently entitled AQUINAS AT PRAYER – THE BIBLE,
MYSTICISM AND POETRY by a prominent Irish Dominican spiritual writer, Paul
Murray, O.P.. When I saw it I expressed
an interest in it and not long after he handed it to me. My curiosity was piqued by the title because
even though there are some prominent Catholic prayers attributed to St. Thomas
Aquinas – notably the Adoro Te, and
the Pange Lingua – his thoughts on
the subject of prayer have not been as prominent. Fr. Murray notes that many do not expect
someone as steeped in more abstract theological matters as was Aquinas to be
oriented in the direction of writing about prayer. Nevertheless, Fr. Murray shows that our
Dominican brother has some very interesting things to say on a subject that
touches on a common complaint that I hear from people about efforts to pray:
distraction!
The first point is that it is the desire to
pray that is more important than even the words we say. We may not be completely attentive to all we
say or want to ask! Indeed, Aquinas says
in one of his scripture commentaries that it is hard to get through a single
“Our Father” without our mind wandering!
The issue really isn’t whether or not God “hears” us, but rather, what
do we want to “get out of” praying. If we
want the maximum spiritual benefit we have to be attentive. He notes three levels of attentiveness:
attentiveness to the words we are saying; attentive to the meaning of those
words; and lastly attentiveness to the goal of the prayers, namely God and
whatever we are praying for. Then he says
something I really like. “This last is
the most necessary level of attentiveness, available even to the feeble-minded;
and sometimes the level can be so intense that everything else gets
forgotten. However, the human mind is
too weak to stay aloft for long.
Sometimes in the middle of prayer, when the mind is lifted up to God in
contemplation, it suddenly wanders. But
unintentional wandering cannot deprive prayer of its fruit. Loving desire is the cause of prayer and
ought to be with us constantly……”
What matters most is loving desire. This is what makes our prayers pray! I find that very comforting because I know
that regular contemplation can be difficult for anyone and it causes many to
worry about distraction as a “sinful” thing that has to be confessed! What one needs to do is recover the loving
desire and do as much as one can at the time and then move on to whatever one
has to do. IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK
ABOUT.
It Has Been Said
“How can we stay in solitude when we feel that
deep urge t be distracted by people and events?
The most simple way is to focus our minds and hearts on a word or
picture that reminds us of God. By
repeating quietly, “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want, “
or by gazing lovingly at an icon of Jesus, we can bring our restless minds to
some rest and experience a gentle divine presence. This doesn’t happen overnight. It asks a faithful practice. But when we spend a few moments every day
just being with God, our endless distractions will gradually disappear.”
From BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY by Henri Nouwen