NOT ALWAYS PRAYING, BUT ALWAYS LOVING

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"When does one get to the point where, believing that God is our omniscient Father, one might expect Him to act with expedition, as our earthly fathers would act were they omnipotent ?" 

In Part II of this conversation with Leo Leitch, who wonders when God will take action on the latter-day, pagan holocaust of the unwanted unborn, Leo continues: 

Thanks, Julia, for opening and developing this discussion. Although you write that Our Lord exhorted us to pray always, as I expect you mean in reference to Luke 21:36, I think that the context of Luke's Gospel illuminates that Jesus was effectively exhorting us to always pray that the tribulations He foretold at the time of His second coming would not befall us. He wasn't exhorting us be continuously praying.  Indeed, the N.I.V. passage of Luke 21:36 reads: Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. But is that an exhortation to pray unceasingly for God to deal with one evil or another ? Or is it more an exhortation to pray unceasingly giving thanks and praise to God, as in the Holy Mass and as in all manner of spontaneous prayers expressed by us all every day? Is it, really, an exhortation to be constantly praying? I say: My Bible of choice is the Douay Rheims, in which Luke 21:36 is rendered as "Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come"  We may take "these things that are to come" to mean the "days of vengeance" referred to in the preceding vs 21:22 ff - which I'd say have now arrived, with a vengeance, one might say! As to Thess 5:16-18, the Douay has " Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all." Yesterday was the feast of St Catherine of Siena, who as the Divine Office tells us,  "never ceased praying to God to let peace return to his holy Church". In Divine Intimacy (Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen' OCD's 'Carmelite bedside book') I read just two days ago that: "True prayer … is the breath of the soul that loves its God, the habitual attitude of the heart which tends toward God … for a soul who really loves God, it would be as impossible for it to interrupt prayer as it would be for it to stop breathing. We can thus understand how everyone, even those living in the world, can fulfill the words of the Gospel, "Pray always" (Lk 18:1). The Douay translation of that is: "We ought always to pray, and not to faint." … And will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night?" (ibid 18:7). My take on this is that since Vatican II, and the near-demise of the Traditional Latin Mass with its close association with contemplative prayer, the Church has been lulled into lukewarmness by an appalling lack of prayer. At Mass last Sunday for instance, we were told that "in the Rosary we used to pray 'save us from the flames of hell' ".  It's so long since Father heard that prayer, which he eliminates from 'rosaries' prayed at vigils for the dear departed, that he's forgotten the words ("fires of hell").  The Novus Ordo has put the Church on a starvation diet. Prayer, the breath of the soul, isn't taught in seminaries. Vocal prayer, in devotions of all kinds, has been stifled. The soul of the Church is afflicted by attempted suffocation. Contemplative prayer is the natural flowering of baptismal grace. But we've had it dinned into us that contemplation is something exotic, esoteric. I was steered away from St John of the Cross by a good monk who wanted me to read Francis de Sales instead, because he was more "moderate". So I read him and loved him but Deo gratias, was led to the Carmelites and back to the sublime Doctor, and his "science of love". It's prayer - of all kinds, but especially the Mass and especially the Traditional Latin Mass, which teaches us to love God. And so, back to Leo Leitch's question, "Is ("pray always") really an exhortation to be constantly praying?" No, we can't possibly be 'constantly praying'. We all have jobs to do! But prayer and generosity teach us how to love and although the mind can't be always praying, the heart can be always loving - doing everything 'AMDG': for the greater glory of God. St Thomas Aquinas says the heart can do this by "the desire of charity". St Augustine says: "Prayer is nothing but a desire of the heart; if your desire is continuous, your prayer is continuous. Do you wish never to cease praying? Then never cease desiring." If we all knew how to pray, we would know how to desire God, and so would never cease praying. We would truly be "His elect, who cry to Him day and night."  And would He not then "revenge" the unborn? 'Anonymous' says: I can't believe it, I like this blog post. Spiritual and helpful, unlike previous rants and churchy gossip columns. Keep it up! 'Anonymous' II says: But do you really need to pray in Latin for God to hear it? I think his language of choice was Aramaic? I say: Of course God hears us always, no matter what language we speak.  Leo adds more: We seem to be agreed, Julia, that we are not exhorted to be praying ceaselessly for divine intervention in matters of this world, including our own needs and such abominations as legal abortion. I mentioned earlier, but you overlooked including it, that any demand that we pray unceasingly for divine intervention would imply that we should expect that our prayers will not be answered.  And Leo again: Your mention of St Catherine of Siena, Julia, brings me to ask what you think of her mystical marriage to Jesus, and, particularly, her bizarre invisible wedding ring. I say: I'll get around to this. But not tonight.  Leo adds (May 16 or thereabouts): Back to Catherine of Siena, Julia. I say: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm getting around to it.