Prayer

Last Sunday, June 1st, I had the honor of doing a Holy Hour at the Carmelite Monastery in Flemington, NJ. Their website can be found at http://www.flemingtoncarmel.org/

It was the 7th Sunday after Easter and the Gospel for that day was from John, chapter 17. Following is the Homily I gave on it for the Sisters at Carmel. Feel free to comment on it. Also, feel free to support the sisters and their community.

Homily on John 17:1-11a

“I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me.”

This portion of the gospel of St. John, chapter 17, has come to be known as the High priestly prayer. It’s all about relationship. Relationship between Jesus and His Father, and Jesus and His disciples. It sums up all that Jesus came to do and the intimate relationship between Him and the Father that allowed him to complete his work.
This gospel is ideal for this time of year when there are many men being ordained to priestly ministry. They are ordained not for themselves, but for the Church, not just to deepen their own spiritual life but to go into the world as representatives and evangelist of the Lord and His Gospel. They are ordained not for their own salvation but for the salvation of others. They are called to be in the world though not of the world. This is also true for all Christians.

In this prayer Jesus prays for the disciples and the community of faith. In this prayer he prays to the Father to give strength and protection to his faithful believers, as Jesus prepares to return to God the Father.

This prayer of Jesus is not only for those first followers of Jesus, but for us also. It teaches us the value of prayer being central in all we do.

This priestly prayer of Jesus is especially suitable for us here in Carmel. Prayer is central for the Carmelite way of life as it was to the life of Jesus. In the Carmelite rule of St. Albert, we read, “Each one of you is to stay in his own cell or nearby, pondering the Lord's law day and night and keeping watch at his prayers unless attending to some other duty.” Further, St. Theresa of Jesus tells us, “prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us." And St. Therese of Lisieux says, “For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

Living out your vocation as Carmelites and followers of Christ, you will have both trials and joys, but God has been revealed to you through Jesus Christ. You belong to God. As Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”

Through the intercession of his Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, you have come to know the one true God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, you have eternal life. You are in relationship with God, as well as in community and relationship with each other. You are called to live out your Christian vocation here in Carmel by being Christ to one another, and to those who you pray for.