A simple(?) candle

Prayer for the Day

“Jesus, I believe that you care about every circumstance of my life, including the difficult ones. Help me to experience your love and reassuring presence as I face them today.”

Reflection

I just got back from St. Mary’s chapel at St. Francis of Assisi church here in Bakersfield where they have perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance.  I went there after dinner tonight to spend some time and say the rosary because I’m finding it harder and harder to concentrate on my prayers ‘out in the world’.  There are so many distractions!  The internet, television, cell phones, traffic—you name it, it’s distracting.  It’s a recent phenomenon, because there have been times I’ve been so engrossed in prayer while driving the long stretches of freeway between work and home that I wonder when I walk in the door at home how I got there!  Maybe I’m just becoming more sensitive to it as I try to grow closer to Jesus.  Could it be that I’m just getting older and grumpier?  Maybe it’s both.  Again, I’ve gotten off the topic I wanted to write about.   See?  I’m already distracted!

I was thinking about my Aunt Barbara today.  I don’t know why.  She must be thinking about me! Or maybe it’s a result of my conversation the other day with “Joe” about praying for the “living” who have already passed on.  Whatever the reason, I recalled a conversation I had with Aunt Barbara just before she passed away.  She was concerned that she wasn’t able to concentrate on her prayers because of all the distractions. She asked me if I could help her.  I had to ask myself, “Who am I? What makes her think I am knowledgeable or spiritual enough to give her that sort of advice?  I’m looking for a spiritual advisor of my own!”  But, she is my aunt, and I love her, so I asked her what was distracting her.  She said that she sometimes—probably most of the time—said several Rosaries and Divine Mercy Chaplets each day along with whoever was leading those devotions on EWTN television.  I said that maybe it was the TV distracting her.  Many of us need something to focus our eyes on so we can let our hearts loose in prayer, but oftentimes I get so caught up with the different accents or inflections of others’ voices that even they become a distraction.  She said no, that wasn’t it.  “In fact,” she said, “having someone else to pray with helps me concentrate more on the mysteries, because then I don’t have to worry about keeping track of where I am in my prayers.”

As we continued to talk, it was apparent to me that what she really wanted was to get to the next “step” in her prayer life.  We’re talking “saintly stuff” here.  You know.  The whole “ecstasy-float –above-the-floor, Jesus is standing right in front of me” stuff.  Now I KNEW I was out  of my league!  And I told her so.  But she persisted, so I came up with a suggestion that sometimes helps me get focused on my own prayers.  I don’t know if she ever tried it, but she sounded interested in any case.  At least she continued to speak to me, so I know she didn’t think I was crazy!  Here is what I told her:

First of all, I have to be in a place that is absolutely silent.   For me, that’s the adoration chapel or the main church if a chapel is not available.  Then I look for “THE” candle (the Sanctuary candle)—the one that is to be lit and placed next to the Tabernacle where our Lord is reposed. [Can. 940 'A special lamp is to burn continuously before the tabernacle in which the blessed Eucharist is reserved, to indicate and to honor the presence of Christ' (1983 Code of Canon Law.)] If I can’t be in a church, I have to use my imagination—that makes it a little harder, but not impossible.  Before I begin my prayers, I meditate on the Holy Trinity.  I use the candle and the tabernacle (or monstrance) to help me.  The candle that “protects” the tabernacle represents God the Father.  The flame that proceeds from the candle and “lights the way” represents Jesus, God the Son.   The warmth and peaceful feelings that emanate from the candle represent God the Holy Spirit.  It’s important to the meditation that I use only the candle that “lights” the way to the Tabernacle, because it’s a perpetual flame—in theory one that is never extinguished.  A new candle is supposed to be lit with the flame from the old one.  Hence, the perpetual flame, and in my meditation, the very symbol of the everlasting Love, Warmth, Light, and Protection earned for each of us by Jesus through His life, death and resurrection.  What about the tabernacle?  I did say I used it in my meditation as well, didn’t I?  Four words—The Blessed Virgin Mary! I thank her for saying “Yes” to the Father’s plan for our salvation, and giving birth to the Son who fulfilled the Scriptures.

This short (15 minute) preparation puts me in the proper frame of mind to pray the Rosary and meditate on Jesus' life and the promises of the Good News.  After all, it is all about Him, isn’t it?

Oh, and thanks for the memory, Aunt Barbara!