In concluding this morning’s praying of the Magnificat, was the meditation of the day, which I felt was so profound I wanted to share it with you. It was written by Monsignor Philip Hughes, an English priest and Church historian who taught in the United States for many years.
How to remain firmly in God’s Hand
“Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God.” The definition in the catechism is classical, and provided “heart” be not misunderstood to mean the emotions, it sums up the whole doctrine … The essence of prayer is that I raise my mind to God. I turn my attention from every other thing. I empty my mind of every other thought. I give my whole mind wholly to God, to be filled only by God, so that nothing, literally nothing, stands for the moment between my soul and him.
I so raise my mind not to gain new knowledge of God, not, that is, for the sake of study, nor for the sake of any satisfaction or reward, but … as an act of homage whereby I make a return to God, unveiling my mind in his presence for him to do with as he wills …
In that moment God works unhindered upon the soul of man, his friend. The union is secret and silent. Whether God speaks or not does not matter, in this respect: that he is equally there in either case; there, as the object of my faith, of my hope, of my love …
Prayer is thus and adherence by the will to the life of God that moves ceaselessly within me — even though that life no longer manifests itself to my consciousness through effects that can be seen, heard or felt.
Such manifestations are but flames, if you like. Whether they come or not, the life, the fire whence they come, persist ceaselessly.
Prayer is the one occupation of the soul that is really worthwhile. And it is the most effective of all towards what is sometimes called progress in virtue. “In all that concerns the practice of the virtues, I believe that more practical progress is made by those who set about the task with an understanding of their own real nothingness in God’s sight and a humble plea for his help than by a hundred repetitions of good resolutions,” (Father Innocent le Masson).
Prayer is thus, necessarily, a reminder of the truth that God is the author of all things and that we are wholly dependent on him. Whenever we ask anything of God, we proclaim this dependence and own our subjection to him.
–Monsignor Philip Hughes
