Transcript of Abbot Clement=s Talk on Monday, August 8,2005
In the letter of Pope John Paul II for the 21st Century one of the strong elements he says that the Christian community should show Christian life is the art of prayer. He says that communities should be schools of prayer. He
=s quite specific, he means that the places and the Christian life is not to be a prayer simply of petition, of asking, but really places where thanksgiving, praise, adoration, contemplation, listening, and devotion constitute that prayer. Then he says for consecrated people the focus should really be on contemplation and the cultivation of contemplation.We don
=t need to be reminded, but maybe we do, that prayer is both universal and essential. It=s been said in many different ways but one I think you=ve heard again and again from different people is St. Angela Foligno says: AThat if you want to make progress in the spiritual life, you must pray!@ AIf you want to grow in faith, you must pray.@ AIf you want to grow in hope, you must pray.@ AIf you want to grow in charity you must pray.@ And on and on she keeps repeating pray, pray, pray and then she says: ABecause when you go to pray you place yourself in the Light and the Light begins to enlighten you.@ Not only that God makes you whole. Then he moves you toward union.I think if we have the opportunity or have seen things people that are tourists go to Africa they
=re surprised at the traveling tribes. They will stop at a place and start digging. Sure enough they would find a well. I think it=s a good image of our life. The aquifer, the water plateau, is like for those tribes, they know where to find it, it=s in our life. St. Paul says: AWe don=t know how to pray but we=ve been given the Spirit to help us in our weakness and he groans in us. So listen to your own groaning and try to discern how the Spirit is praying in you. Get in touch with this. It=s right where you are right now.Since it is the Spirit that gives inspiration to Scripture there should be some vibes going on whenever we hear Scripture especially when we pray the psalms and also listen to the prayers of the saints in Scripture because they have been tuned in to the Spirit in their life.
Remember Abraham when the Lord reveals to him that he
=s going to look over Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham is really kind of bold. He says: AI can=t believe that you are a God who would wipe out the innocent with the guilty.@ Then he starts bargaining like a good eastern person. He gets pretty far. He knows how far to push the Lord. He=s bold.So when you
=re in the Spirit you can pray with boldness and spirit. Or take Moses. The Lord says to Moses: AGet down into the plains the people are worshiping false gods.@ Moses basically says: ALook, when the people are faithful to you, you say they=re your people. When they=re not, you say they=re mine!@ He=s kind of bold. Moses says: ABesides, you cannot wipe out your people because then all the nations will say, you see you promised them a Promised Land and now you can=t do it so you wipe them out.@ That=s an interesting argument to the Lord. And he=s heard.We
=re praying the psalms all the time and there=s phrases on our lips that deal with adoration, praise, thanksgiving, petition and lamentation and a few other things. So we can scoop them up and make them our own and grow in the prayer life that the Lord calls us to. He wants us to walk together as friends. That we share his life and he shares ours. What=s nice about it is we don=t have to go and get degrees or do anything else - it=s right here. The Spirit is in depths of our being. How are we really listening to the movements of the Spirit and therefore to pray out of that gift?