A PRECIOUS PRAYER
Mr. Toms (Mr. V. T. Thomas ) is a great cartoonist of South India. The
most popular cartoon characters created by him are Boban, a witty boy and
Molly, his smart sister. In one cartoon, the siblings are sent to their
grandparents' home to spend the holidays. Their
grandfather was in the habit of conducting prolonged prayers and the
Rosary in the morning and evening and everyone in the family was expected to
participate actively in the daily prayers.
The children were tired of the lengthy sessions of prayer. To escape
from the ordeal, they went to a famous shrine and collected from there, a short
prayer (for a novena) printed on a card. Gladly they brought the short prayer
home and gave it to the grandfather as a better substitute for his lengthy
traditional prayers. The old man was excited on getting the new prayer.
Happily, he declared, "It is good that you brought this prayer. I have
been longing to get it. From today, we will recite this prayer regularly, after
our usual prayers both in the morning and evening." The children were
shocked to hear this disturbing decision!
During the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, His disciples Peter,
James and John experienced a heaven of happiness and in that ecstasy, Peter
cried out, "Lord, how good it is
that we are here! "{Matthew
17: 4}. Persons who experience the
presence of God will never worry about the length of prayers, Sacraments and
meditations.
People who complain about the length of
the Holy Mass and other prayers often arrive late and leave at the earliest.
Many pretend to be too busy to participate in the prayer sessions. Twenty four
hours are not sufficient in a day for many people who pretend to be too busy.
God expects us to devote a reasonable share of our time, talents, assets and
knowledge to serve God and His children. Persons with a real reverence to the
Sacraments and prayers consider the time spent for prayer as a treasure to
strengthen their spiritual life.
The
shortest distance between a problem and its solution is the distance between
our knees and the floor. The one who kneels to pray to God can stand up to
anything. The family that prays together stays together.
William
Cowper said, "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his
knees." Allen. E. Vartlett wrote,"Seven
days without prayer make one WEAK."
.....................................................................................................
© By:
Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science &
Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof.
Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S.
John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally,
Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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