July 27 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The most fundamental truths are often the most pure, luminous and uplifting. They share in the simplicity of God – the plenitude and source of all truth – and for this very reason they contain immense depths, capable of nourishing our spiritual and moral life.
“To live is to be together, to look upon and to love one another,”1 said Dona Lucilia, Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s mother. These words, although simple, touch on the essence of contemplation and open a door to the mystery of prayer. To live is to be with those whom we love; to pray is to live lovingly with God: “Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours.”2
Once, as we read in this Sunday’s Gospel, a disciple asked the Saviour: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1). One word contained in Jesus’ reply would forever changed the way we address the Creator: “Father”. What a rich revelation: God is our Father! And by His express will, Mary is our Mother! We are her children by the gift of grace, and our prayers ought therefore to spring from a filial, intimate and reverent confidence.
As the Divine Master promised, we will always be answered: “For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Lk 11:10). But there is a condition: that we present our supplications to God with faith, humility and perseverance, all for the sake of His glory and our salvation.
God’s goodness, in making us His children and accepting our pleas, requires correspondence. Love is repaid with love. And to love means to live righteously, rejecting everything that leads to the catastrophe of losing grace: the seductions of the devil, the attractions of the world and the clamouring of the flesh. Whoever commits grave sin forsakes being a child of God, a brother of Christ and an heir of Heaven, and becomes a slave of Satan and a reprobate deserving of hell, until repentance and confession. However, when we walk the paths of virtue, our love is rewarded with Love: the Holy Spirit, gift par excellence (cf. Lk 11:13).
For St. Teresa of Avila, the heart of the spiritual life lies in prayer. With mystical wisdom, she also describes it as a conviviality rooted in charity: “Mental prayer is nothing but friendly intercourse, and frequent solitary converse, with Him who we know loves us.”3 Far beyond the recitation of formulas, it consists of a living relationship in which we are transformed inwardly. Daily and frequent contact intensifies friendship. We have no need for complicated discourses; we only need to know that we are loved… and to respond with love.
In the light of the example of the saints and pure souls, we can conclude that only living together with God will fully perfect our spiritual life. “To live is to be together, to look upon and to love one another,” this is the object of our happiness in Heaven, begun on earth through prayer. “In the beatific vision,” says Msgr. João, “in the midst of the happiness of living with the Lord, we will live in prayer, because prayer is the elevation of the mind to God. And praying in time is the best way to be in prayer for all eternity.”4 ◊
Notes
1 CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. Dona Lucilia. Città del Vaticano-Nobleton: LEV; Heralds of the Gospel, 2013, p.472.
2 CCC 2560.
3 ST. TERESA OF JESUS. Libro de la vida, c.VIII, n.5.
4 CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. Meditation. São Paulo, 4/10/2008.
