Prayer

So many questions seem to go unanswered. Dwelling on them clouds the sunshine that is there despite our limited perception. When we take off in a plane on a cloudy day and break through the cloud barrier, there's the sun...as always, bright and faithful as always. We think we live in the worst of times, or that our little world is on the verge of collapse. And sometimes it seems that way; nothing we do brings consolation of removes the gloom. St. Marcellin certainly must have had these days: constant debt, concern about his young flock, the future of the congregation, the criticism from his opponents who actively tried to shut him down, and his own ill health, to name a few. We all share a portion of the frustration of the father in Mark's Gospel who was possessed from an early age with a mute spirit that threw him down in convulsions. Nothing seemed to work, not even the efforts of the disciples. Talk about clouds. But in pleading directly to Jesus, in that humble prayer, "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief." (Mk 9: 24 ) he receives the answer. The boys is cured and the disciples learn from the lips of Jesus, "This kind can only come out through prayer." (Mk 9: 29). Yes, prayer, the kind of prayer that brings Wisdom and peace. "But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity." ((Js 3: 18). This is where deep, heart-felt prayer brings us. This is the kind of prayer Lent helps us to find.
Bro. Rene