Pray unceasingly
Then Jesus old them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’
When I read this passage of unceasing prayer I think of two things. One is Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine. Augustine lived, well lets just say an interesting life, one that could use a great deal of prayer. And praying is exactly what Monica did - for decades in fact. She prayed unceasingly for the soul of her son and in the end, he became a Christian. The rest would be history with probably a small amount of legend in there as well.
The other thing I think of us the Liturgy of the Hours or simply 'the hours'. This tradition of the church and the answer to the call to pray unceasingly, involves formal prayers at certain times of the day. For example morning prayer, noon prayer evening prayers etc. One might recall the term Vespers which is the evening sunset prayers. When they are said by all the faithful around the world at these times it amounts to an unceasing continuous prayer rising to God. I found great comfort in these prayers when I was studying in the seminary. It is especially beautiful when the voices of the seminarians, monks or other religious rise up together, alternating verses. It is magnificent.
What doee this do for all of us who are not living in a monastery, seminary or hermitage? Those of us who have terribly busy lives with children and jobs and homes and schedules? I had a spirtual director once who told me that if I was dedicated to having a relationship with God, dedicated to having a real prayer life, that I would need to make the time. He wasn't telling me when, that was for me to figure out. I wound up getting up earlier each morning. Now, I still get up earlier but I have also discovered the joy of informal prayer all day long. I have spoken of this before. If we are attentive and have a desire to pray, everything we do, everything we see, witness and take part in all day long can be a prayer. A thought, a remembrance, a smile can be a prayer.
We are all capable of praying unceasingly, each in our own way. Try it, you'll like it.
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