Year A: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Second Reading: Romans 8: 26-27

Today’s Reading offers great hope for those of us who feel our prayer is not good enough!

Quite often, we can feel that our words aren’t quite good enough to use as a prayer - and feel embarrassed about the idea of talking to God in our own words. We may use traditional prayers - but sometimes, even they do not quite say what we mean.

Again - as in the First Reading, we are offered an image that helps us to see that God does understand our weakness and comes to meet us more than halfway.

We have to make the first move - or rather - we have to respond to God’s first move! - and be willing to pray. We even have to come to the point of telling God that we haven’t got the words - and really we are not even sure what we are praying for.

And, as always, once we get out of the way - the Spirit within can get on with Her job - to flow into communion with our Creator and our Redeemer and, in so doing, drawing us into that communion of love too. There, our prayer is expressed in words - images - understandings and insights - things that are beyond our expression!

This all sounds wonderful - and just occasionally, we get glimpses of what is happening - a moment of ecstasy where time stands still. If this happens - savour it! Record it! Jot down any insight that comes because...

The downside of being drawn into the divine communion of love is that what flows through us in the prayer is usually way beyond human comprehension - or even, human awareness.

Whilst our soul is engaged in ecstasy, we can be bored out of our minds! We can feel that we are wasting time - that God isn’t listening - that prayer doesn’t work.

It can take a lot of faith to hang in there when prayer feels empty and dry - to believe that what is happening is real even when we cannot be conscious of it.

A record of when it did work can help - as can the support of other pray-ers - as can the words of today’s reading.

What does it mean for me?

When have you had trouble praying? What helped?

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