Prayer is the response of those who ‘feel’ God’s ‘pull’ and the gnawing emptiness at our center that hungers to be fed. It is both the “where” and the “when” of the prayer of recollection in which we present ourselves to God. Prayer brings us to the door of ‘questions answered,’ where, as Jesus taught us to do, we knock and cry out, “What is man that thou art mindful of him (Ps. 8:4a,5)?”
As with our physical ears, our soul is built to ‘hear’ God, to register His Truth and His will for us: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jer. 31:33) To say that something ‘rings true,’ or ‘resonates’ within us, means that it finds its home here. It abides in the soul patterned on the template of God.
To develop our soul’s ‘ear’ we first learn to tell the truth. As adults we ask ourselves, “Is that real, true?” Only in utter honesty can we hope to hear and live out profitably the truths that God has given us. And only in stillness and silence can we hear any of His truths.
Further developing our ability to ‘hear God,’ we read, inhabit, and pray the words of Sacred Scripture. Here, we come to know the truth of our salvation history and God’s plan for us. The literal sense connects us to things that happened in a time and a place. The Catechism teaches us how to best understand Scripture, “The Letter speaks of deeds” (CCC 118) (e.g., Jesus was crucified). The spiritual sense uncovers deeper truths, truths that we could not know without God telling us. These include what is, what should be, and what will be. Illustrated, the third commandment teaches us that 1. there is but One, Holy God, 2. that we are to adore and worship Him alone, and, 3. that “the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.” (CCC 117)
The Bible, Divinely Inspired, is read with an ear toward what kind of truth the Holy Trinity is revealing. Here is a verse to remind us of what to listen for:
God the Father, Creator ours,
Filled time and place with proofs, (literal – deeds)
And through the Word, the Son of God,
Revealed His hidden truths. (spiritual: what is)
Jesus, Son of God enfleshed,
Showed us how to be, (spiritual: what should be)
While Holy Spirit, here at last,
Leads to Eternity! (spiritual: what will be)
When we hear God’s truths, we sense solid ground beneath our feet and are reassured. We are strengthened when we learn how His Law is a gift to, and not a death knell for, our free will. Truth is secure and allows us to catechize, or echo the truths of the faith – It makes it possible to stand firm in our witness to Jesus Christ. Truth is that unchanging reality that, Holy in Itself, teaches us how to love.
Let us pray: “Please, Lord, make me to live in Your Eternal Truth, that I may never betray You with the kiss of false love.”
Download the free pamphlet on the Prayer of Recollection.
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Originally published in condensed form in The Catholic Navigator, July 2023’s series on the Senses of the Soul, published with permission.
