The household of God

 

Our world continues to be topsy-turvy; the virus continues to prey upon the young and the old, rich, and poor.  Each day the news brings us word of uprisings, crime scenes, political unrest, suffering and chaos!

To paraphrase St. Paul’s letter to the community of faith at Ephesus (Ephesians 2:19-22):

Brothers and sisters:

WE are no longer strangers and sojourners,

WE are fellow citizens with the holy ones

And members of the household of God!

In the midst of all of this craziness, we’re reminded that God counts us among His household, that we’re part of the family that includes apostles, prophets, saints, and sinners.  There couldn’t be better news for the people of God!  For me, this offers hope and gives purpose to my everyday life!  I think today there are so many people who are looking for hope, who are just hanging on by a thread, who spend more time worrying than rejoicing!   God is telling us once again that we’re important, we’re loved, and we’re not alone!

When Jesus chose His twelve apostles, He charged them with the task of spreading His message throughout the world (Luke 6:12-16); no small task!  Think about that on those days when everything seems just too overwhelming and hopeless!  We are also charged with spreading the good news of Jesus, but, thankfully, these twelve and others who followed them, paved the road ahead of us.   We also pause to give thanks more specifically today for the lives and works of Saints Simon and Jude—apostles, preachers, and missionaries who died for the faith.  They spread the message to far away Persia (Iran and Iraq) and other parts of the world.

St. Paul goes on to remind us that WE are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.  May we continue to enjoy life in the company of all God’s faithful and be open to the indwelling of the Spirit as He guides us along the path of righteousness and goodness.  And that path begins with prayer, as Jesus taught us:

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.  (Luke 6:12)

To me, it’s interesting to think about Jesus praying all night.  This act on His part teaches us many things just as it would have taught His Apostles.  There are several lessons we can learn from His action.

First, it may be thought that Jesus didn’t “need” to pray.   After all, He is God.  It’s not a matter of Him needing to pray, rather, it’s a matter of Him praying because His prayer goes to the heart of who He is.

Prayer is first and foremost an act of deep communion with God.  In Jesus’ case, it’s an act of deep communion with the Father in Heaven and with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus was continually in perfect communion (unity) with the Father and the Spirit and, thus, His prayer was nothing more than an earthly expression of this communion.  His prayer is a living out of His love of the Father and the Spirit.  So it’s not so much that He needed to pray so that He could stay close to them.  Instead, it was that He prayed because He was perfectly united to them.  And this perfect communion demanded an earthly expression of prayer.  In this instance, it was prayer all night long.

Second, the fact that it was all night long reveals that Jesus’ “rest” was nothing other than being in the presence of the Father.  Just as rest restores us and rejuvenates us, so the all-night vigil of Jesus reveals that His human rest was that of resting in the presence of the Father.

Third, what we should take from this for our own lives is that prayer should never be underestimated.  Too often we speak a few prayerful thoughts to God and let it go at that.  But if Jesus chose to spend the entire night in prayer, we shouldn’t be surprised if God wants much more from our quiet time of prayer than we’re now giving Him.  Don’t be surprised if God is calling us to spend much more time every day in prayer.  My advice is to try to establish a set pattern of prayer.  And if you find that you can’t sleep some night, don’t hesitate to get up, get on your knees, and seek the presence of God living within your soul.  Seek Him, listen to Him, be with Him and let Him consume you in prayer.  Jesus gave us the perfect example.  It’s now our responsibility to follow that example.

As we honor the Apostles Simon and Jude, it’s good to reflect upon our own calling to follow Christ and act as His apostles to the world.  The only way we can fulfill this mission is through a life of prayer.