This gospel therefore convicts us. How? The response of Jesus’ followers is contrasted with our own response. How fickle are we? We easily justify our lack of commitment with no substantial reason. We say, \u201cuh, well, yes but, you see, I have to, and then\u2026\u201d Think of the time when a prompting came to mind or heart. Was your own response like that? This gospel is sharp. It reveals to us our own lack of fidelity to one another. It most especially reveals our lack of fidelity toward the Lord.<\/p>\n
Who wants a fickle and lethargic friend anyway? Who hires someone who does not get the job done? Do you really believe you are disciplined enough and exempt from this conviction? We cannot only<\/em> criticize the fickle man, the fickle woman. This gospel reveals our lack of fidelity, yes. It also<\/em> reveals the \u201chow to\u201d deal with it and fix it. Read again, \u201ccome away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest awhile\u201d (verse 31). This is important to notice: he tells them this after<\/em> ministry, after<\/em> the preaching, healing, and deliverance. He tells them this after they share with him what they had done (verse 30).<\/p>\n Stay with those two verses a little longer. It is like the little boy or girl sharing all that happened at school that day. The father is eager to hear and listen. The father should also be attentive to the voice of his child. When he hears the fatigue and stress, or despair in the voice of the child, he should act in wisdom. He received wisdom given him through the grace of matrimony and parenthood (Side note: if you are a parent and think you lack wisdom, read James 1:5-8). With that grace and wisdom from matrimony and parenthood, he will see the child present but fatigued, willing but weak. The parent\u2019s proper response to this is what Jesus said to his own disciples: come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest awhile. This \u201ccome away,\u201d \u201crest awhile,\u201d is one<\/em> of the experiences of prayer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Notice that he said \u201calone\u201d to the apostles. Jesus\u00a0said alone, yet they were together as apostles and with him too. Notice: alone is not isolated but in recognition and attention to Him who is always present. Can that work, being alone-together? Yes. Prayer is not<\/em> an isolated and escapist experience of lamenting everyone except<\/em> myself. No, prayer is some kind of shared togetherness, solidarity, empathy, com-passion. Prayer<\/strong> is the one-word answer to the fickle person, to him or her who is not totally a man or woman of integrity.<\/p>\n How? How does prayer correct infidelity, a lack of commitment, and a tendency to not decide? By this: prayer plants oneself \u201cby the stream,\u201d it roots someone in something other than<\/em> himself. Prayer reorders and re-centers a person. A lack of prayer begets fickleness, idleness, lethargy, stuff life: \u201cuh, well, yes but, I can\u2019t because, it\u2019s just that\u2026\u201d Gross! Don\u2019t be like that. Don\u2019t play like that. Don\u2019t live like that. Look: if you can at least admit<\/em> your infidelity, you will<\/em> make much progress in prayer, in life, in grace, in virtue. Again, prayer corrects someone by reordering and re-centering him or her.<\/p>\n Now, what is it or who is it that I am being re-centered in? For example, if prayer is moving from one drug to another, that is not helpful. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a less \u201cbad\u201d drug than what you were doing before; it doesn\u2019t help the attachment and disordered affection. If prayer is moving from one dramatic experience to another, that is not helpful. Prayer cannot <\/em>keep you from maturing. Prayer is<\/em> that growth of maturity coming to completeness and fulfillment in your interior life. If your treat<\/em> prayer like a drug, you will be unsatisfied when you don\u2019t have pretty feelings. If you treat prayer like a means<\/em> to an end, you will tire yourself. You will tire yourself because that kind of treatment of prayer is self-<\/em>centered, not God-centered.<\/p>\n Him Whom We Encounter<\/p><\/div>\n The Incarnate Son of God is who prayer directs us to, roots us in, and centers us in. The bible uses language like \u201ca deer that longs for running streams,\u201d soil that is tilled, and a foundation upon which we are built. Why do you think baptism uses water? Baptism\u00a0nurtures<\/em> and brings the person\u2019s soul to life<\/em>. Baptism is not a cute and symbolic drama, the sacrament\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0water to our souls, the sacrament\u00a0is<\/em> the encounter with Jesus himself, and with the entire Triune God (Side note: Romans 6:1-14 for some awesome theology\u00a0on baptism and its effects). You know how else we are brought to life and kept alive? The Eucharist. Jesus uses bread and wine to sustain us in a very literal and spiritual way. The Lord Jesus feeds\u00a0us with his very Self. What else can ultimately sustain you or me, but Him who upholds all creation by his own<\/em> power? Come on, if you were a soulless animal or plant, I would let you settle for less substantial food and drink. But that is not the case for you or me.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s bring it back. Prayer corrects the fickle man. Prayer renews our fidelity to commitment and discipline. We have<\/em> to let Jesus speak to us in prayer. We must<\/em> listen.<\/p>\n![\"Him](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sacred-heart-of-jesus-crowned-with-thorns-143x190.jpg?resize=143%2C190\")