Men's Rosary

We are a people that is not happy in the “now”,  the present moment.  Usually, we are preoccupied with the future.  What school will we attend?  What career will we have?  Will we own a business?  Will we get married?  Have children?  How long will we live?  What kind of home will we have?  When we do have children, we wonder what they are going to be when they grow up!  We can also become slaves to the past, missing good things and people or dwelling in past failures and troubles.

I know I have spent too much time in my life planning the future and lamenting the past while the present, the “now”,  slipped by.  I only wish I knew this lesson years ago – but that is dwelling on the past!  The past is memory, and the future is only fantasy, something we make up in our mind that may never happen.  All we have is the present.  This is precisely where we will find God.  We look at past, present and future as successive events while God knows past present and future simultaneously and it is all present.  Remaining in the present will help our relationships tremendously because that is the way we are called to relate with each other.  “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”  (Romans 12:15)  When we are with someone, be with them, not thinking about the next thing to do – for that is the future. Or thinking about something from earlier in the day – for that is the past.  Think of the person in front of you, in the “now”,  the present.  St. Thomas Aquinas argues that in temporal things only present things exist.  So why would we choose to dwell in things that do not or no longer exist?

Our perception of the past, present and future will have an effect on our prayer life and state of our soul.  Becoming slaves to the past, to cherished times of long ago or even to our failings, letting them define who we are in the present, will take our focus off of God and onto ourselves.  Becoming attached to our fantasies of how our life may look in the future takes our focus away from God and his will for us.  It makes us depend on our own efforts and designs which are a product of our will, not God’s will for us.  Remaining in the moment, the present, the “now”,  is where we will find God and be able to face any challenge and discern his will for us and begin to unite our will with his.  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) 

Going back to the opinion of Aquinas of only present things existing it makes me posit that only God exists because he makes all things and he is omnipresent, being everywhere at all times.  As we go about our life, we could see it as a continuous moment with God. “Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:1)  When we pray, stay in the “now”.  Focus on God and nothing else.  Easy to say, I know!  But isn’t this the goal?  When we pray for help, we can pray in the present moment.  We do not have to think of the outcome of what we ask for.  We simply need to share our petition and receive what God gives us in the moment.  What we receive moment to moment, in the space of present and with God will lead us to where he wants us to be.  It will unite our will with his will.  This is how we will grow in faith and how our soul will be fashioned to be with him.  “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation, for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”  (1 Peter 2:2-3)  The most perfect state of the present, the “now” is in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Here, in quite prayer, alone with Christ, we are in the midst of God who is all things.  He is eternal presence.  There is no past or future here.  There is no dread, worry or planning here.  There is only His presence.

These are ideas I share to invite you to consider this for yourself and see how prayer can change and become who we really are at our core.  This will positively impact our relationships and engagement with others.    It will help us to better imitate Christ.  It will help us to be more God-like.  “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Matthew 5:48) 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray:

O God, who have taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

“Encountering God in stillness is not a gift given only to saints, but to all who seek his holy grace in the ordinary activity of life.”  (St. Teresa of Avila)