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Jesus: We begin our hour of prayer once again with a short period of deep interior silence and stillness. Keep out all extraneous thoughts and especially disturbing feelings that fill your heart and mind. Create an empty ‘space’ for Me so that you will be totally attentive to My voice. When you are sufficiently quiet, spend a few minutes reviewing the past week and especially how you practiced what you learnt in your prayer the last time.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For today’s prayer you could identify yourself with the apostles who came up to Me and requested that their faith be increased. First of all try and understand why the apostles suddenly felt the need of extra faith. I had just warned them about not being an occasion of stumbling for the weak and innocent. On the other hand, they must also be quick to forgive the one who fails, even if repeatedly. It is against this background that the question of faith comes up. When a person approaches you again and again and says he is sorry for his failings, yet goes back and repeats the same sins as if your forgiveness meant nothing, you certainly need a lot of faith to believe that he is sincere. And yet, you are no one to judge the inner sincerity of the other. Leave that to God alone. What you can and are permitted to observe is only the external, and from that angle you can admonish the other, but never withhold forgiveness.

You: Lord, isn’t that very difficult in practice? How could a person fail repeatedly and yet be sincerely repentant? The two don’t seem to go together! But, Lord, I too sometimes experience something similar in my own life. I mean to correct the fault I am aware of, yet at the last moment, I seem to be irresistibly drawn into it. There seems to be some kind of mystery here – the mystery of human freedom and responsibility!?!

Jesus: That is true. It can happen that the person does not make the best effort to avoid the occasion of sin, but still there are so many inner forces at work that it is difficult for humans to determine the degree of culpability that is to be assigned in a given case. Instead of judging the person, what you could do is to pray that s/he may be more open to the guidance of the Spirit. Also, your very act of kindness in forgiving him/her repeatedly, could touch him/her and bring about some change. In any case, when you face such a situation, it is best to recall how freely and generously the Father forgives you, genuinely welcomes you back and is happy to share his all with you, without any reference to the past. It is the Father’s forgiveness that you are asked to mediate to others and not your own.

But one thing is sure: when you do have genuine faith which focuses on God rather than on Self, then even the little faith you have will be powerful enough to work wonders. To have the kind of faith that forgives repeatedly, one also needs to be selfless (not only in the sense of not-judging, but also of not asking for proofs before forgiving or of harbouring a better-than-thou attitude, or again of asking for instant results). Also, prayer for such a person goes beyond the desire to see any results whatsoever especially that my prayer has brought about a change in him. When we can place that person totally in God’s hands, and pray earnestly for God’s will to be done and leave everything in God’s hands to do as he pleases, that certainly brings about God’s results.

The piece about the slave doing his bit in serving the master means that you are to do your part by placing the person needing forgiveness in My hands and leave the rest to Me. You don’t have to make suggestions about what needs to be done for him/her. In other words, don’t get ‘over-involved’ in the case. Do your part and move on to the next job – there is so much to be done, that you should not waste time in unproductive work. Keep your eyes on Me and you will know for sure what to launch into next. The more you learn to work in line with My wishes, the more work will I be confident to entrust to you. If I can find a willing ally in you, what wonders could we two not work together?

But for this, it would be helpful too if you trained yourself to search out the lost sheep. Remember I chose you to be a fisher of people in the sense in which Jeremiah 16 speaks of them. After telling the people that Yahweh means to bring them back, God calls for fishermen and hunters so that with their keen vision and proverbial alertness, they will be able to search out every single chosen one, not permitting even one to be lost. Although the text in Jeremiah overtly speaks of what looks like punishment (I am going to teach them my power and might), yet remember some other texts as well: ‘… for I am God, not man!’ and you will realize that God intends to show his mighty power in forgiving and bringing the people back – for only a compassionate Father can act like that. Would you like to be one of those fishers, then?

Again, what I appreciate most is when you act in this job selflessly. Then you would not get in My way and waste My precious time going round in circles. I look forward to the two of us working together in extending the Kingdom! Stay now in silence and ask yourself whether you are prepared to let go of your Ego and enter into My service as an ‘unprofitable servant’ … check to see more clearly what is involved in this kind of service and make your response in the silence of your heart.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

As you near the end of these reflections, move into total silence and stillness for a while. Let yourself experience this deep inner stillness – which really is the heart of all prayer. Finally emerge out of prayer with a few moments of heartfelt intercession for those in need – remember the kinds of repetitive sinners we spoke of in this prayer… Conclude with the usual short ejaculatory prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: We enter into this hour of prayer with the customary silence and stillness. Picture yourself literally baling out all unwanted thoughts and feelings so that your mind is like an empty room. Then turn your attention to Me, and tell Me briefly how you fared with what you learnt in the last session of prayer …

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For today’s prayer you could identify yourself with any one of the ten lepers, or specifically with the Samaritan one who returned to give thanks. We shall begin here by way of an example, with one of the nine who didn’t return. Overjoyed at being healed, his first thought would have been to get himself cleared by the Temple authorities. This itself would have been a tough job, a major miracle, perhaps even more worthy of celebration than the cleansing itself. We know that leprosy was seen as a curse from God because of one’s sins – and obtaining relief and complete healing was certainly a rare occurrence. The procedure would normally be long and arduous.

That this procedure could wait for some time, till I had been duly thanked and acknowledged as the great healer, would not have even entered their minds – not because they were basically self-centred, but simply because they thought like normal Jews. Could I have been demanding something deeper: that in their cleansing there should have simultaneously occurred an inner transformation of their minds and thinking patterns too? Was I not indicating to them indirectly that in being cleansed, they were now transformed into new persons with a new identity as children of God? So they had to put on a way of thinking and behaving that befitted God’s beloved children!

This incident will remind you that when God blesses someone he doesn’t do things in halves or in bits and pieces – his gifts are always abundant and overflowing, going way beyond our wildest expectations. Stay in silence for a while and see how true this is in your life. Recall instances when God blessed you with plenty, in fact, with much more than you needed. In the feeding of the five thousand, I gave them such an abundance that there were twelve huge baskets full of broken pieces remaining. So, what is included in this healing is an invitation to all ten to become new persons and live a new life of self-giving, somewhat like the life I Myself lived when on earth. In any case, they would have had to change their entire life-style now that they were healed – why shouldn’t they go the whole way and be radically new? How much are you prepared to be new, different, courageously seeking God first in your own heart and life, then in others and not primarily in external things or in being self-centred? Or do you still seek the comfort of tried and proven ways, satisfied with doing the bare minimum, afraid to move out of the beaten track?

Allow God’s Spirit to speak to your heart as you remain in silence, and let him lead you to an awareness of the areas in which God wants you to change today. Look at the pros and cons of this change, the price that is involved as also the benefits that accrue from the new way I show you.

When you have completed these reflections you could identify with the Samaritan leper. Being already considered an outcast, he had nothing much to lose and so he was ready to be enterprising and try out the invitation I held out to him. Nothing is mentioned in the Gospel story of what happened next in his life. So remain in silence and let God’s Spirit lead you to reconstruct the course of events. You might use the story of Naaman as a backdrop (2 Kgs 5:1-27) – he too was a leper who was healed by God’s miraculous power. No sooner was he healed than he showed himself eager to carry back some mud at least, to have a concrete reminder of the blessings he had received. You can be sure that his life would have been different from then on – he was already eager to convert to Judaism, wasn’t he? Through each blessing I shower on you, I call you to a life of greater freedom and intimacy with the Father and while there are constraints and conditions, yet the pay off or reward is far greater.
In silence allow God’s Spirit to guide you. When you are ready, move into deeper silence and stillness for as long as you can. As you prepare to conclude your prayer, offer from the heart a few petitions for people today who are challenged to follow Me more closely. Finally end with a hymn or vocal prayer summing up all that you learnt today.

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Jesus: We begin again today with a strenuous effort to clear the mind of all disturbing thoughts and feelings. Even if this takes some time, it is worth making the effort, as it will then allow you a lot of time for deep communion with the Father. Before you move to the reflections, give Me a brief resume of your spiritual efforts of the week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For today could I suggest that you identify with Moses in the first reading as he extended his arms in prayer. Remember that in that situation it was for him a matter of life and death – a battle was on and already experience had shown that as long as Moses held up his arms in prayer, Israel inched towards victory. You could spend some time in dialogue with Moses asking him to share his inner thoughts and feelings during the ordeal.

Probably he would tell you that it was not just a matter of keeping his hands up, nor of having someone hold his hands up. What was more important was to keep his mind and heart fixed on God and the purpose, consequences and outcome of the battle. This particular battle was against the Amalekites, who were sworn enemies of the Israelites. They had already tried to block Israel’s passage towards the Promised Land; so dangerous were they that the Lord had asked Saul to exterminate every single one of them in fulfillment of his own promise to deal strictly with them! So, here it wasn’t just a matter of prestige, but of eventually reaching the Promised Land and fulfilling God’s promise to Israel.

What about the battles you are engaged in? Do you try to see them as linked with your final goal and destiny? Or do you regard them as mere casual skirmishes with the Evil one? How often do you bring sincere prayer to bear on these encounters? The depth and sincerity of your prayer will show the degree of earnestness in your desire to achieve victory. Further, do you invite others to join you in this enterprise or do you go it alone? Again, do you see your battles as connected with the rest of the Church, or look at them as your private concern only. Whether you are aware of it or not, they are a part of a larger whole. What affects you also has repercussions on others around you. This thought should give you added reason to hold on to Me till the victory is won. Actually I have won the victory and assure you too of a big share in that victory, but for this to happen you would need to remain close to Me at all times. After careful reflection, move into silence and allow God’s Spirit to touch your heart and deepen your convictions on important aspects of this truth.

If you have time, you could then move to the story of the widow seeking her just rights. In this case it is mainly a question of overcoming the lethargy and ill-will of the opponent who perhaps has his own self-interest at heart. The widow’s repeated pleas might look like cussedness or stubbornness, but it brings out the point that perseverance in prayer is an important aspect and says a lot about one’s conviction regarding the truth of the situation. Again, one cannot pray earnestly and perseveringly for a situation in which one knows oneself to be in the wrong! That certainly would not be in line with doing the Father’s will and one could not really expect redress when the person himself is at fault. In your life, what is the ‘justice’ for which you pray to the Father? Again, is it something concerning only yourself and your near and dear ones, or do parish affairs, civic affairs or even national and international affairs move you to such prayer? When you consider that all people are God’s children with a right and longing to live in peace and harmony, you will realize the importance of your prayer.

Spend some time in silence letting God’s Spirit point out to you which intentions you need to pray for earnestly right now … then generously and wholeheartedly lend yourself to such prayer. As you near the end of your hour, move into deep silence and stillness and remain in it for a long time – till you have allowed the Spirit to remove all traces of Self from you. Conclude your prayer with a few moments of intercessions for those in need - and then take the final prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: We begin this new hour of prayer with the usual time spent in quiet and silence. Make a concerted effort to quieten your mind and heart by focusing on My presence before you and also within you. Picture Me as a deep river flowing through you, inundating every nook and cranny of your being. The important point is to feel My presence gradually spreading throughout your being. Perceive your muscles relaxing and enjoy the sense of ease that follows. After remaining in this posture for a while, tell Me briefly about your spiritual endeavour of the past week.

[Time for silent reflection and prayer]

Jesus: One of the most insidious enemies of your spiritual life is the Self or Ego which is riddled with all kinds of subsidiary evils: fear, greed, insecurity and the like. As you read the story of the Publican and Pharisee first identify with the Pharisee and ask: ‘What is it that makes a person behave in this fashion? Deep down, does he really believe that everything is OK with him and that even God owes him some praise? Or rather, is it not a cover-up for a much deeper sense of insecurity and emptiness?’ Most likely, the person doesn’t feel any of this sense of inner insecurity at present, but it would have been quite prominent in the beginning. As strenuous efforts are made to hide it, it gradually gets submerged and eventually becomes totally unconscious – everybody else can see it very clearly except the person concerned. It is something like a little child whistling in the dark to convince himself that there is nothing to be afraid of.

And yet, the effects of this approach can be so terribly damaging in the spiritual life: it blocks a person totally from receiving any spiritual benefit. The first condition for receptivity is consciousness and acceptance of one’s need of God’s help. The expression ‘God resists the proud’ is simply a human way of saying that God cannot approach the proud man because he says to himself and everyone around: ‘I can manage by myself, I don’t need you (the other) to help me in any way.’ And so, God keeps his distance from such a person. In this case, the entire purpose of prayer is defeated – the person does not end up with a greater depth of communion between God, himself and others.

Remain in silence and seek to discover whether you also act in a similar fashion and how often this happens. All through life, try to develop a keen sensitivity to the use of the “I” – be aware of and notice the number of times this little insidious word creeps into your conversation and reflect on what it says about the inner state of affairs in your life. Eucharist properly celebrated makes a Christian more and more other-centred, not only seeking out the needy and those who need help, but also appreciating the good qualities of those around, noticing the efforts they make, even if these do not always meet with success. It enables us to value the inner struggles of each person, their genuineness, sincerity and good-will. This will make you less critical and more appreciative of even the little goodness you see in them. This leads to cooperation, the I-am-at-your-service approach and not competition, the ‘I-am-better-than-you’ approach. Spend some time in silence looking at your life deeply… look also at the reaction of the others around you: do they welcome your company or somehow very subtly seek to avoid you? Do you find yourself easily comparing yourself with others, and priding yourself on being better than they?

If you discover any of these traits, bring them to Me and allow the Spirit to dissolve them, replacing them with genuine acceptance of your limitations and a deep desire to work always in and through God’s Spirit. The more areas you can surrender in this way, the better – for you can be sure that I want to rid you of these slaveries, to lead you out of this ‘Egypt’ into the Promised Land where you can live truly as a child of God.

In the remaining time, take a look also at the Publican and what goes on within his mind and heart. He acknowledges his emptiness and inability to approach God, because he has so little to commend him, practically nothing to narrate about himself: no fasts, no donations given... He throws himself totally at the mercy of the Father, open to receive whatever the Father gives him. His eyes are fixed only on God and he doesn’t even notice the arrogant Pharisee before him. As he prays from the depths of his sincerity he experiences a deep inner peace, a strong sense of confidence that the good Lord accepts his lowly state. He also senses a deep inner desire to change things, a kind of tugging at his heart-strings, inviting him gently yet firmly to change. Whereas the new life-style proposed appears frightening, yet it seems so attractive and promising. He would like to try it out at least tentatively, relying on God to keep him going.

He goes home more at peace with himself and with others too. The time he spent in prayer has had an effect on his daily practical life-style. At home, he finds himself more accepting of others, more appreciative, more cooperative, more at-one with others. Life seems so much more peaceful and enjoyable. The others around him too find him easy to deal with – even those with prejudices against his profession find him different from other tax-collectors and don’t mind regarding him as a friend. There is something attractive about such a person. The deeper underlying reason for this is that the less of Self there is in any person, the more of God will others find in him. In silence, try and visualize your life and what it would be like if you too could have less of Self in you! Ask the Spirit to guide you into a more and more selfless kind of life.

At the appropriate moment, move into deep stillness and silence and remain in it for as long as you can. This is a highly precious time in which the Spirit can act very powerfully on all the un-Christ-like aspects of your life. These quiet still moments are the real core of true prayer; don’t succumb to the temptation to make suggestions to God’s Spirit – allow him full freedom with your life. When you are ready to emerge from this stillness, spend a few minutes in heartfelt intercessions for others, without any kind of judgment regarding those prayed for. Conclude with the customary hymn or brief prayer – something that you will carry into your work-a-day situation with the same kind of attitude you nurtured in prayer.

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Jesus: We begin this hour of prayer in the usual way, with a few moments of deep silence and stillness. Once again, we will look at some very fundamental truths today and for this to be fruitful, the more receptive you are the better. Create a deep vacuum within yourself so that, like parched land you will soak up every drop of God’s wisdom that comes to you. Add also a brief report of your week’s effort to grow in My love.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For this prayer, you could identify yourself with Zacchaeus, especially with all that goes on within his mind and heart as he lives through this event. Listen deeply to the dialogue that would have gone on within him as he desperately desired to catch a glimpse of Me. He realized that perhaps because of the kind of life he led (despised so vehemently by all around him), he did not deserve even that much. Yet that deep inner desire kept driving him on, even to the point to opting for something which might have looked rather ridiculous – climbing up a tree! Pushing all other considerations aside, he was seized by just that one desire: to get a glimpse of Me while the opportunity lasted.

Leave Zacchaeus for a moment and observe what happens in Me as I approach the spot where he was hiding. Notice that I was attentive to all that was happening in Zacchaeus, in spite of the large crowd around Me. Any sincere movement within a person impelling him/her towards the fullness of life, is precious to Me. I was able to pick out his great desire from his behaviour and the obvious sincerity manifest here almost automatically drew Me closer to him. Notice My dialogue with him: friendly, inviting, positive, encouraging, drawing him out. Notice how I consciously placed Myself at the receiving end of his generosity, inviting Myself to a meal at his place – that would have been the last thing he would have been dreaming about!

Back now to Zacchaeus: see him contented with himself as he sat there among the branches of the sycamore tree, awaiting the moment when he would catch a glimpse of Me. Feel the joyful surprise that suffused his entire being as he heard My words. He could not waste a minute as he scampered down the tree and led the way to his house. Follow his thoughts as he made his way home: how happy and proud would he not have felt that the One acclaimed as Messiah was actually coming over to his house for a meal! Watch him bustling about giving orders to everyone in sight, wanting to make My visit as pleasant and memorable as possible. Soon, he would have realized that what I was most interested in was himself and his future. He was sharp enough to pick up My invitation to him to the banquet of Life… watch him amidst all the bustle and merriment, quietly yet decisively making up his mind: this was the chance of a life time – and he was surely not going to miss it.

He could already feel the change within himself and so he didn’t need to wait for a more private set-up. After all, in any case his decision was going to manifest itself publicly – because he could not afford to be a clandestine follower like Nicodemus; that approach would not suit his character and upbringing, nor match the strength of his determination. He took the plunge and made his solemn announcement – now there was no going back. Draw him aside and dialogue with him about his feelings at this great turning point in his life… Dialogue also about what the situation in his house would have been in the following few days; he would certainly have set about implementing his decision forthwith… resulting in a flurry of activity all round.

At an appropriate moment, move into deep silence and stillness and just marvel at the transformation in the person of Zacchaeus. Listen deeply also to what the Spirit says to you about your own life. Do you sense any invitation to some change urgently called for in your life-style? Could you muster the same courage that Zacchaeus manifested as he set about re-arranging his life-style step by step? Feel together with him the progressive increase in joy and peace in his heart and mind.

Towards the end of your hour of prayer, spend some time in intercession for others and conclude with the customary hymn or bhajan or vocal prayer. Visualize how you are going to translate your decision into action and when…

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Jesus: Today as you enter into your prayer, permit Me to remind you that we have a very important theme for our reflection: the Resurrection. To benefit from this prayer, you will need to make a concerted effort to silence your mind and heart – as you usually do each time you begin your prayer. Do not omit the brief resume of your spiritual effort of the week remembering that this is the key effect of your prayer – the change it brings about in your day-to-day life.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: As you identify with the Sadducees who asked the question about the resurrection, you can see clearly from the very question they put that they had misunderstood the whole meaning of resurrection. Right from the start, we need to emphasize that Resurrection is not the same as resuscitation in which the dead person is simply restored back to life – the same level of life s/he had before dying. In other words, s/he merely gets an extension of life here on earth somewhat like what is told us about King Hezekiah in Isa 38. He prayed and the Lord granted him an additional fifteen years of life.

The Resurrection that I speak of is a being raised to a totally new level of life – one in which you experience oneness of life with God himself. It is a sharing in God’s own life and hence completely different from what you experience here on earth – marrying and giving in marriage. The Old Testament did not know anything of this new level of being, and even what the mother of the seven Maccabean sons spoke of was simply a prolongation of earthly perishable life. With death, one enters into the timelessness of God himself and so dwells with him in intimate union, the covenantal union in which we realize the truth of God’s promise: ‘I shall be your God and you shall be My people!’ As the Book of Revelation puts it, there, (reminding ourselves, of course, that we do not speak of a place), one finds no room for tears or mourning, but for the eternal joy and fullness of life that is characteristic of the Father.

Further, all manifestations of the ‘Self’ in people will have been purged away and so you can well imagine what a kind of life that would be: no jealousy, envy, strife, ‘mine and thine’… spend some time visualizing the chief characteristics of this life…

Remember also that the gift of this kind of life is yours already now through your Baptism, though, of course, you experience only glimpses of it, immersed as you are in your earthly existence. St. Paul says: ‘Here we see dimly as in a mirror (inverted, left to right) but there we shall see God face to face.’ These comparisons, helpful as they are, give us only a hazy idea of what the glory and joys of this level of life are. But it would be worth your while to spend some time in deep silence, savouring the qualities of God’s life.

As you pick out these qualities, spend time generously in selfless praise of God for choosing to share his innermost life with us. Realizing that this life is already yours now, is there something you need to change in your behaviour – things seen from that vantage point would look rather foolish and petty, childish and totally unbecoming of a child of God… Spend some time reflecting also on how you could rise to this level of selflessness and Christian maturity in your life in the family… Would a remembrance of this truth colour the way you celebrate Eucharist, make your prayer each day, approach your daily activities even the most simple or trivial actions?

Don’t omit the deep inner stillness and silence that should characterize every session of your prayer before the Sacrament… the longer you stay in this silence, the better for your spiritual growth. As you near the end of your hour, turn your heart towards a few needy people who could benefit from your intercessions. Conclude with the usual short prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: As we near the end of the liturgical year, the message of the Liturgy will largely concern the end of the world and the need to be ready for this catastrophic event. Generally, people do not like to hear a message of this kind, and so all the greater need for you to quieten your mind and heart to catch not just the sense of what I say, but also the urgency of the message. Work at this for a few moments and then report on how you fared in the past week.

[Time for quiet prayer and reflection]

Jesus: You could identify with the people making comments about the magnificence of the Temple… feel some of the joy and pride they experienced at seeing that marvelous and glorious structure – the assurance it offered them that God was with them, on their side. Take time to also look into My heart to see the disappointment at this attitude of the common people: they were blissfully ignorant of the dangers that awaited them because of this false confidence of theirs. It is as if they were sitting on a massive time bomb which was gloriously ticking away towards the moment of explosion – and then there would be no more hope left. Feel also My frustration at not being able to convey a sense of urgency to these people; theirs was only a surface approach. As long as things went well externally, they couldn’t care less. In the past God had been so close to them, and so why shouldn’t he be near them now?

They seemed to have forgotten that intimacy is a two-way traffic. God could be, and always is close to his people, especially when they suffer. But it is equally important for the people to be close to their God, not to build walls of resistance between them, or to insulate themselves in smugness and pride, because then not even God could break through this kind of resistance. My task has been very much like that of a person trying to convince a confirmed alcoholic that he has a drinking problem and that he was heading for real deep trouble. He hardly has enough sober moments in which to consider his fate and make the necessary adjustments. In his determination to continue along his chosen path to self-destruction, he will evidently seek to eliminate anyone who threatens his pleasure producing choices.

Spare a few minutes also to dialogue with the faithful who suffer tremendous persecution in such circumstances, and also go through their anguish at seeing their near and dear ones caught inextricably in this death trap! Feel something of the deep inner peace they experience, mixed with sorrow and helplessness and their inability to do anything much for others. Theirs is not a ‘thank-you-God-for-saving-my soul’ attitude; they are rather filled with a deep sense of their own unworthiness and with immense gratitude for being given the chance to repent in good time. Maybe some will be convinced not so much by what they say, but by how they behave in times of persecution: faithful to their own commitments, open and receptive towards any who need and seek their help, alert to reach out to the slightest movement of compunction and repentance …

Having dialogued with both sides, now retreat into the inner cave of your heart and in silence ask yourself what really is your personal attitude to My call to the fullness of life. How deep and sincere is your response; how much do you value the chances offered to you? What benefit have you derived from following My way, which basically is the way of the Cross and of self-denial? Is there anything that you need to do as you come to the end of this liturgical year? It would be good also to look back and pick out the salient teachings that have made an impression on you this year. At some point of time, either now or outside of prayer, you would also need to review what you have learnt from this method of prayer we have been using throughout this year. You will be called upon to share this method with others, but first you will have to have noted and experienced its key points yourself. Then you will be able to share from your personal experience, which is always much more effective and lasting.

Move into deep interior silence and stillness now and attend to some of these aspects – remembering that much of the work needs to be done in stillness, without strenuous efforts on your part, but allowing God’s Spirit full freedom to act in you. As you prepare to emerge from this prayer, turn to a few intercessions for others and finally end with the ejaculatory prayer or a short hymn.

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Jesus: We come finally to the last week of the Liturgical Year which is dedicated to the celebration of God’s kingship. As you usually do, spend the first few moments in deep silence and stillness. This idea of kingdom envelops the whole of your Christian life and commitment, and so is central to your life. The more receptive you are the better will be your prayer and the effect it produces in your daily living. Review briefly not only the last week but also the entire year in which you have followed this particular method of entering into the Gospel scene by becoming a participant in it.

[Time for personal and silent prayer]

Jesus: For this week’s prayer I would recommend that you seek to identify with Me as I hung on the Cross. One of the crucial moments in that situation was the challenge placed before Me by the Pharisees and others, to demonstrate the true nature of the kingdom: “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and we will all believe in you!” The kingdom I proclaimed all through My life was this deep personal relationship between God and his chosen ones. It touches, therefore, on the quality of life that these chosen ones live, a life characterized by peace, joy, sharing, fellowship, effective concern for others, freedom from anxiety, worries, doubts and the like.

The first important point of My teaching was that the kingdom is a reality right here and now; that people enter it and enjoy its fruits already here. So, these fruits and effects have to be visible and tangible - this is what is expected of those who choose to follow Me. And this cannot truly happen unless a person firmly believes in the reality of God’s kingdom. Those who can muster this level of faith have no difficulty facing the vicissitudes of life: they are fully aware that the challenge before them is to see God’s presence and love even in the midst of all kinds of adversities. They are not promised a utopia here on earth. They too have their share of crosses, but for them God’s love and concern are tangible and real. And so they face these adversities with calmness and trust. Each time they marvel at how God has ingenious ways of reaching out to them and making things work out well, in the end. He never forgets those who choose to remain in the kingdom.

Now with these repeated ‘proofs’ of God’s fidelity and love, how can such a person not witness to God before others? Even if he does not utter a single word, his very attitude towards life somehow strikes others as a lesson to be learnt. And when he does articulate his trust in the Father, that witnessing of his would strike them even more. What is outstanding is his selflessness, his deep realization that it is not his work or greatness that matters, but rather his simple ability to allow God to act in him. In silence, review briefly what would be your witness before others, based on all your experiences in these hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. How much would people, even scoffers, want to spend time in quiet prayer to derive the benefits you show them are present in such an activity – from your own personal experience?

Remain in deep inner silence and stillness, quietly working this out and then move into total silence and stillness. After a fairly long period of stillness, reach out to others in petition before finally ending this session with a few ejaculations or a brief hymn.

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THE SEASON OF ADVENT

Dear Adorer,

As usual, we adopt a different method of prayer as we begin the new Liturgical Year. For this year, we take up the “Lectio divina” approach, a way of praying hallowed by several centuries of Christian tradition. This method is very dear to monks and other religious who dedicate their entire lives to the service of God and neighbour. In recent years, many lay faithful too practice this kind of prayer all over the world. It is a simple yet effective way of entering into the tremendous riches contained in the Word of God. We suggest this method because this liturgical year is dedicated as the Year of the Word of God.

The method consists simply of reading the passage/s set out for the liturgy of a given Sunday. But, the reading is done slowly, literally ‘word by word’, noticing, attending to, entering into, as it were, the deep meaning of each word. The reason we do this is first of all, the respect we show for God’s Word. Secondly, the scriptural authors were extremely gifted writers who chose their words very carefully and took great pains to arrange them in very effective ways of communication. Without pretending to be great scholars, we can still derive a lot of profit by simply attending to every single word – even though what we use is only a translation, which sometimes misses the genius of the writer expressing his thought in the original language. Nevertheless, we always remember that the Spirit of God guides those who approach the Word with an open and receptive heart and spirit. After the prayerful reading comes the reflection part followed by an expression of our love, gratitude, admiration and so on of God in his dealings with us.

We offer just one simple example: The Gospel of St. John opens with this statement: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” As we read this carefully, we pause and reflect: why does John start off with ‘in the beginning’? Does he mean to link up his Gospel with Genesis which also begins with the identical expression? The work of Jesus, commonly known as Redemption, is indeed a new beginning, but on a totally different plane. In fact, it has very little to do with the old order of life. Further, Jesus will take us back to the original beginning enabling us to be what Adam and Eve should have been, but could not because of their tendency to self-centredness and sin. Jesus will have nullified the power of this evil within us giving us the possibility of transcending Self even to the point of loving our enemies and laying down our lives for others. We could reflect also whether our lives show any signs of this new beginning, or are we simply a continuation of the old order? This is given only by way of example: one could spend more than an hour of prayer only on this first sentence – provided one stops long enough to notice the wording, to reflect on it by linking with other such expressions, searching for its deeper meaning and discovering a revelation of the Father’s love in it.

It stands to reason that initially our practice of this kind of meditative reading will necessarily tend to be somewhat shallow. But as time goes on and we get more and more acquainted with the Scriptures, we would need not more than a line or two for the entire hour. Of course, we have to keep ourselves open to the guidance of the Spirit and also, where possible, put in a fair amount of background work in which we force ourselves to read the text slowly and reflectively. In these helps to prayer, we shall be offering you some reflections, but do not restrict yourself only to these. Allow yourself to be guided by the Spirit. If some line of thinking strikes you as ‘strange’ have it checked out with a more knowledgeable person – that approach will gradually infuse you with more confidence.

With this little introduction, we launch into this simple yet different approach to prayer.

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Jesus: Begin your prayer with the first few minutes reserved for a quietening of your mind and heart. This is all the more important and necessary in the new approach to prayer taken up for this year, beginning with this Sunday. Calmly yet firmly drive away all unwanted thoughts and feelings till you feel you can single-mindedly attend to My words. Before taking up the text, spend a little time recalling the past week too.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: We shall offer a few comments on the first reading (Isa 2:1-5). In the days to come – Everything that God does follows a well-established plan. He never does any work haphazardly, with corrections and amendments aplenty, as it unfolds. Rather, it is well thought-out, arranged systematically and unfolds according to plan. From the human point of view, since we cannot see the whole of God’s plan at one go, we need to have patience especially regarding those sections that don’t seem to fit in with our way of thinking, or for parts that involve something negative for us. We need to bolster our faith reminding ourselves that God never plans anything that is to our detriment or for our ultimate harm. We may not be able to see the entire bright picture right now, but some day we will. So, with a deepened faith, we hang on to his will and follow obediently and lovingly.

The mountain of the Lord’s house – God, not so much the material place where he manifests himself, will be the centre of mankind’s attention. All people will flock to the Lord wanting to benefit from his presence and guidance. I guess this will happen after several will have tried other ways or means to attain happiness. And when all these fail, people inevitably turn to God as their last resort. But, if they could cling to him from the start itself, without giving credence to ‘other gods’, what a difference it would make; they would have got a head start over others and enjoy his loving presence much more deeply. Again, when approaching ‘holy places’ like a Church or Shrine, you need to remember that the person of God is more important than the edifice. Your concern should be to attain to a ‘God-experience’ as far as possible – and this depends on the quality and depth of your personal faith. When you listen to the Scriptures proclaimed in such places, you need to hear it as really the Word of God, allowing some reflective silence to interiorize his Word.

Further, we reflect that with My coming, God’s dwelling place is now the human ‘heart’ or human life-situations. How eagerly do you seek Me in your life? Do you realize that if you cannot find Me in your life first, you will never find Me in these shrines and other locations? With regard to this ‘sanctuary’ of the human heart, you need to cultivate a deep awareness of God’s presence within – both your own self and also in others around us. Truly blessed is the person who is equally at home with the Lord in a shrine as he is with God in himself. Once you are deeply convinced of this inner presence, you can never be far from the Lord. Your entire life becomes a protracted prayer, not of words, but of true Christian living. Once this happens, then you not only become ‘Christophers’ (Christ-bearers), but you also will be able to give Me to others more effectively, often without your even noticing it.

That he may teach us his ways – having tried all other means to obtain true and lasting peace and fulfillment, people will finally come to the Lord and willing submit to his yoke and reign. Isn’t it sad that you have to learn the hard way; if you had only heeded My words: ‘Come to me all you who labour and are over-burdened, and I will give you rest… take my yoke…’ Yet, better late than never!

As you pause over such phrases and relish their deeper meaning, you will certainly pick up areas in your own life where reform is urgently called for. Now that you have entered into this preparatory period of Advent, this would be the right time for an inner change of heart. Remain in deep silence and stillness and listen to God’s Spirit. As the feast of Christmas draws near, so must you in your inner attitudes evince a greater readiness to welcome the Lord into your daily living. After you have spent a sufficiently long period of profound attention to the Spirit through a deep inner silence and stillness, move into petitionary prayer for the needy. Remember those especially who are making a concerted effort to reform their lives during Advent. Conclude with the usual hymn or short prayer.

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Jesus: Once again, we begin with a period of deep inner silence and stillness in which you resolutely put aside all extraneous thoughts and feelings, creating a true desert within yourself where you will be able to hear God’s word more efficaciously. Spend a few moments recalling last week’s spiritual effort to discern where you may have gone wrong – the idea is not to repeat these mistakes again and lose precious time…

[Time for silent reflection and prayer]

Jesus: Begin again with a quiet reflective glance over the first reading of this Sunday (Isa. 11:1-10). Having gone through the entire first reading, return to the beginning and now pause at any word or phrase that strikes you … By way of example, we present the following:

A shoot … stump of Jesse – both expressions connote something small and insignificant, something that doesn’t easily attract attention. Notice how almost every great miracle, for example, the inception of new life, begins in silence and hiddenness. That is the way God works. At this incipient stage the gift is so tiny that it could easily be snuffed out by mistake or negligence. God offers his greatest gifts with this risk – that his gracious and generous gesture may be rejected or rendered ineffective. And so, you would need to be extremely careful and attentive: the least word, gesture, sign – all of these can be very important, if you are to profit from God’s liberality.

While the gift is very fragile at the inception stage, as it grows, it gets more and more sturdy and strong – for God’s promise cannot be empty. What seemed like something lifeless becomes a source of new and flourishing life. Out of death, comes new life! Can you see the Lord doing a new thing in your life, even if at the start it is tiny and almost invisible? A good thought that strikes you, a noble desire to reach out to someone… all it needs is a little attention and a readiness on your part to lose something of yourself. Every new habit is built on a single good decision implemented and repeated painstakingly and perseveringly. Recall the parable of the tiny mustard seed that grows into a great big tree affording shelter to a multitude of birds. What would the Spirit want of you in this season of Advent? Remain in silence and listen deeply – respond as consciously and generously as you can. Remember that as long as your desires and actions have these two important qualities (they must stem out of love, and involve some degree of dying to Self) you cannot be far away from the life-giving track. It may take some time, but the Lord will certainly make your good desires bear abundant fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – All that we have noted above is actually the work of God’s Spirit. Ours is to offer generous support and unquestioning obedience – the rest he will take care of. In silence, offer your all into God’s hands, as totally as you possibly can … take your time over this surrender and if possible repeat it several times each day during this season of Advent. Let your attitude be like that of Saul on the road to Damascus: ‘What would you have me do, Lord?’ Or like that of Samuel: ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!’ Continue this surrender now for as long as you can do it meaningfully. When you have done enough, mentally and spiritually glide into total silence and stillness – for a fairly long period.

If you still have time, take other phrases or words that strike you and allow them to sink deep into your consciousness in a similar manner. Dialogue with Me freely about whatever strikes and invites you into deeper communion with the Father. End with intercessions and the concluding vocal prayer or a hymn – something that will resonate in you throughout the day and the rest of the week.

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Jesus: Once more enter into this prayer with the usual time for silence and stillness. Prepare your mind and heart diligently – the more effectively you do this, the more will you benefit from this prayer. I remind you also of the brief report on last week’s spiritual effort. The Father blesses you with plenty of all the things you need in life – what matters is how you avail yourself of all these blessings. You can’t afford to lose his precious gifts to you each week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: You could begin by reading the first reading of this Sunday slowly and deliberately once right through. Then return to the text and pause over any word/phrase that strikes you. By way of example: The wilderness will rejoice – for it is now going to be fruitful and produce plentifully. But this is possible only for God; it is a marvel that the Lord works for you. Your life too, at least in certain areas, has been like a wilderness, unproductive, a waste, difficult to deal with – and yet at his appointed time, the Lord will convert even these areas into highly productive stretches. What do you need to do to hasten this? Nothing! Except to wait and plead before the Lord. But when he does ‘visit’ you (often in the most unconventional and unexpected ways) that is when you need to exert yourself in attentive listening and wholehearted cooperation. Is the Lord ready to say something to you right now in this prayer session itself? Stay in silence for a while repeating the words of Samuel: ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’

If there is something urgent, the Lord will manifest it clearly to you. In dialogue with the Spirit find out what follow-up procedures would be helpful. Visualize how you are going to implement these insights today, or during the coming week… After you have exhausted this text, return to the reading and continue, till something else strikes you.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. Notice in all these expressions that it is the Father who takes the initiative – you have only to receive. It is only after receiving these gifts that your work really begins. Life itself is God’s gift to you; all through life, whatever is given you is never for your benefit alone. You are a steward of God, and like stewards, it is your obligation of love and gratitude to return to the Father, the maximum that you can produce. All that the Father asks of you in return is that you pass on his love and caring to others around you. He needs to look after every single creature he brings into the Universe – and he usually does this through instruments, human or otherwise. So, if you can be a generous and dynamic instrument in his hands, it would please his heart no end. And to do this well, all you need to do is simply to watch the way he loves and cares for you. Notice the minute details and finesse of his love for you – make that the pattern of your loving of others. They must literally feel the compassionate heart of the Father and ‘fall in love’ with him. That will make them ready to follow his ways – and then there will no stopping his blessings from flowing to them – and also to you!

Some of these blessings are mentioned in the latter part of the reading. Go through the last two paragraphs slowly and reflectively. Maybe what you could hold on to is the truth that a real follower of God is basically a happy, contented person: nothing can really get him down, for he knows that the Lord holds him in the palm of his hand and will always uphold his promises. Recall some of the promises of God (e.g. ‘I will never forget you’; ‘do not be afraid, I am with you’ …) and visualize them being fulfilled in your life situation. Picture yourself as a river, receiving plentiful supplies of fresh invigorating water – and passing it on to those in need.

At an appropriate moment, move into total silence and stillness and remain in it for as long as you can. Just be still and let the Spirit act on you, instilling his power and grace within you. You will go out of this prayer invigorated and energized – ready to make an impact on all you meet. Towards the end of the session reach out to a few needy persons through your intercessions – make them scriptural, based on some scripture text, but also personal as you share in the pain and suffering of the oppressed. Conclude with the usual brief vocal prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: As we near the feast of Christmas, your days will get more and more busy and cluttered with a lot of last-minute details that clamour for attention – so all the more reason for you to set aside these first few minutes for total silence and stillness. Add also a few comments on last week’s efforts.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: Begin with a quiet calm reading of the 1st reading of Sunday – the offer God makes to Ahaz: ask a sign of the Lord your God… Could there have been anything more generous and accommodating on God’s part? God really comes down to our level each time in an attempt to win our hearts – yet, even then, people often are not ready to listen nor to obey. Underneath this resistance is the fear of losing something: power, prestige, position, vested interests and so on. But then, the adage ‘nothing lose, nothing gain’, stands as true here as ever before. Unless we are prepared to let ourselves go into the loving hands of God, there is no way we can obtain all the gifts that the Lord wants to pour into our hearts. Probably Ahaz realized that if he did ask God for a sign, whatever that was, he would get it - because God was determined to come to the help of his people. He had his own promise to fulfill. Ahaz rather wanted things his way; he was bent on making an alliance with the king of Egypt instead.

The Lord himself will give you a sign… How marvelous are God’s ways; even when the chosen ones deliberately want to thwart his plans, he will continue to show mercy and compassion. The story of Ahaz refusing God’s suggestions would possibly remind you of Judas and the innumerable warnings I gave him – even during the Last Supper I did try to divert him from his self-destructive plans. But sometimes, My very love has to allow the person to choose freely what he wants for himself. Yet, remember that My arms are always open wide to receive the repentant sinner back with love and forgiveness. Is there any area in your life in which you hear My voice calling you back? The season of Advent does open out onto a new beginning, a new venture of love! Remain in silence and listen deeply to the still inner voice of the Spirit. And seek to be generous in your response to the Spirit – it could make a world of difference in your spiritual life.

If you have time left, take the Responsorial psalm, which usually expands on the key idea of the first reading. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory! Isn’t this exactly what the Spirit would have said to Ahaz, coaxing him to be open and receptive? The glory of a person is his special qualities seen in action. And God’s specialty is that ‘he looks on the lowly and raises them from the dung-heap to place them on high.’ That is the glorious deed he wishes to do in your life too, so that seeing what he does for you, others will be able to sing his praises. When you focus your attention on what the Lord does, no matter how painful it be for you personally, you will not find it difficult to respond generously. Besides, we know that God will never test you beyond your strength and capacity. Recall Paul’s words to Timothy: “I know this Jesus to whom I have entrusted myself and I am fully confident that he is capable to keeping safe till that day all that I have entrusted to him.” Even if you don’t quite feel this way during your prayer, keep repeating these words in your prayer time and over a period of time, your resistance will diminish.

They will receive blessings from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation: The Father knows which blessings you stand in need of – silently, yet trustfully place your entire life into his hands and allow him to mould and shape you the way he knows best. Believe Me, you will never regret having placed yourself in his loving and caring hands. Do this then as you remain in silence and stillness for as long as you can. As you draw near to the end of your prayer time, launch into a few petitions for those in need and finally conclude with the usual hymn or short ejaculatory prayer.

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Jesus: As this will also be a busy week for you and for all at home, you will need to be extra careful as you enter into this prayer to ensure that your mind is free and attentive. Spend some time consciously putting away all distractions, especially the disturbing feelings that are present within you. After you have done this to your satisfaction, take some time to report on your spiritual progress during the week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For today’s prayer take up the Gospel passage (Jn 1:1-18) and read it slowly and carefully. By way of example we give you a few suggestions here. The line you could pause over is: Through him all things came to be – I am the source of all life, be it physical or much more the new life I came to bring to all of creation. At this Christmas too I wish to invite you to a higher level of life at least in one area. Would you care to respond generously? The area I would suggest is your life in the family itself. Silently go over a typical day at home (as if you were watching a video of yourself interacting with the different members of your family). As you watch the film unfold listen deeply to the Spirit pointing out areas in which your interactions could be more gospel-like: more loving, forgiving, spontaneous and natural, positive and uplifting… Do this in silence and chose one or two areas in which you are ready to work out such a change. Dialogue freely over this with the Father. Place your desires and resolutions in his hands asking for his powerful love to flow through them. Focus particularly on how this effort of yours can make God’s love more clearly visible and tangible to those around you. Through your actions, people should come to a deeper realization that ‘the Word is made flesh and dwells among us today.’

As you near the end of your prayer, move into deep inner silence and stillness and let the Spirit make your desires efficacious and fruitful. Finally conclude with a few petitions for others and the final concluding vocal prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: The festive season is still on with all its distractions and social obligations that need to be fulfilled. Take some time to carefully clear your mind and heart of all extraneous thoughts and feelings. The better you do this, the easier will your prayer be. Attend to these distractions gently yet firmly, not allowing any of them to get the better of you. The safest thing to do is to entrust them all into My keeping – but consciously and conscientiously. Then spend a few minutes telling me of your spiritual victories and failures – seeking always to learn from these failures so that you better yourself as you go along from week to week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: Begin your slow and attentive reading of the Gospel of the day, pausing at whichever word strikes you as offering food for reflection. You could possibly reflect on the following: ‘Get up take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt and remain there till I tell you. On the surface, this sentence reminds you of God’s Providence which guides and protects each person all through life. You could think of the various situations in which you find yourself this week, especially the difficult ones. Could you entrust your life once more into the Father’s hands, expressing consciously your total trust in him? Take some time over this.

Another little reflection is that God has his own plan for Jesus and Mary particularly the redemption of mankind. He will not allow anyone or anything to disrupt this plan of his. Herod might think he is smart, but who can outwit God in all his wisdom? When God decides to bless a person, no one can stop him from doing that – at most the ‘enemy’ can delay it, postpone it, interrupt it… but he will never be able to change or thwart God’s plan. Notice how we are told that the Magi also returned to their homes ‘by another route’ so that they did not meet with Herod on the way back. Recall the promise of God made in Jer 29:11ff – ‘I know what plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your harm; I intend to give you a future with hope!’ God made this promise precisely when his people were in exile in a foreign land. Not only does he assure them that he will bring them back into their homeland, but also that he would grant them a future with hope. Against this background look at the circumstances of your own life (and then at the lives of the members of your family or close circle of friends) and apply God’s promise to your situation. Repeatedly express your confidence in and gratitude to the Lord.

But while it is true that no one can block God’s plans for blessing you, so it is also true that when you seek (or maybe even just wish) harm for someone else who has hurt you, here too you cannot interfere with the Father’s plans to bless that person. So, rather than waste time asking God to punish the person, it would be far better to entrust the entire situation into God’s hands and let him work out what is best. This will not only leave you in peace, but also ensure that God’s justice is done. Your only wish for the one who harms you is that s/he may learn from the experience and grow in God’s love through it.

A further reflection: But when he heard that Archelaus … he went away to Galilee … and made his home in a town called Nazareth. When seeking to cooperate with God’s plans, a person needs to use all the resources at his disposal, including ‘common sense.’ Notice how Joseph wisely chose to go as far away as possible from Archelaus, and chose to reside in Nazareth. That fitted perfectly in God’s plan too for according to the prophets, Jesus was to be called a Nazarene. What seem to be chance occurrences, or ‘accidents’ are actually all part of God’s wonderful plan. The main point of course, is that we must be attuned to God’s way of thinking and always docile to the Holy Spirit.

In a situation like this, it is very easy to give in to fear and in a fit of panic try to ‘run ahead’ of the Spirit. If you can train yourself to sit calmly and still before the Lord and listen to his voice speaking in the depths of your being, you will find that ‘all things come together for your good.’ Look at some of the complicated and complex situations you are in at present, and listen deeply to what God says to you, right now during this prayer. Ask simply yet trustfully for a confirmation of God’s will and entrust the situation into his loving hands.

After you have done this for a while, move into total silence and stillness, trying to be as still as you can: no thoughts, feelings, desires, aspirations, in fact nothing should occupy your mind and heart at this time. Be totally ‘blank’, empty and receptive. This is the essence and heart of all prayer and so in each session ensure that you do spend some time in this attitude…increasing the amount of time you spend in this silence. Even if you were to spend the entire hour silently in this fashion, it would be wonderful prayer and highly effective too. Hence always work at acquiring the ability to remain still and blank before the Lord. Ensure that this silence and blankness is as selfless as it can be.

As you emerge from this silence, turn your attention for a few minutes to the needs of others around you. See your hour of prayer as a gift given to you by the Lord, not just for your own benefit, but also for that of others. Let them also be blessed because of your hour of prayer. Conclude with the usual vocal prayer or hymn.

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