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Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were
with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Luke
9:18
It’s interesting that Jesus was both “praying in solitude” and that
“the disciples were with him.” Saint Bede explains this apparent
contradiction by stating that “the Son alone is able to penetrate
the incomprehensible secrets of the Father’s will.” Therefore, our
Lord was always alone with the Father in the sense that only Jesus
knew the Father fully and intimately. This is because He is the
Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Eternal Son of the
Father.
With that fact clearly understood, it’s also important to
understand that as Jesus prayed to the Father within His human
nature, something new took place. Though Jesus was eternally with
the Father, His human nature was not eternally with the Father.
Therefore, as the Eternal Son of God communed with the Eternal
Father while living in human flesh, human nature was suddenly
elevated to a height that it had never been before. Not only was
the Eternal Son living in perfect union with the Father, but now
the Eternal Son, fully human, brought His human nature into this
oneness.
Though this may seem a bit philosophical to some, it points to a
very important reality that affects us all. Through our Lord’s
human prayer to the Father, we are all invited to join with Jesus
and share in this divine oneness. The Son of God, as a human being,
made it possible for us as humans to share in the elevation of our
very lives to oneness with God the Father. And though the Son of
God will always retain a unique union with the Father, we are,
nonetheless, by participation, invited to share in their
life.
So why is this important? One reason is that there is no greater
human fulfillment we could ever achieve than to share in the prayer
of the Son to the Father. Throughout our lives, we are constantly
looking for fulfillment in one form or another. We want to be
happy. We want enjoyment in life. We have a natural desire for
happiness that we are constantly seeking to fulfill. What’s
important to understand is that the greatest happiness comes by
sharing in the deep human prayer of the Son to the Father. Prayer,
true prayer, is the answer to our deepest desire.
Reflect, today, upon whether or not you regularly engage in deep
prayer. Can you point to times when you, like our Lord, were alone
with God, communing with Him in the depths of your human soul,
being drawn to Him through prayer? There are many levels of prayer,
as is attested to by many saints. Make the choice to deepen your
prayer. Go before our Lord today and pour out your heart to Him,
asking Him to draw you into the holy solitude of His prayer to the
Father. Doing so will bring forth in you the deepest human
satisfaction possible in life.
My praying Lord, as You spent time alone with the Father, You
united Your human nature with Him, thus elevating our nature to a
glorious degree. Please draw me to You, dear Lord, so that I may
know You and the Father through true, deep and sustaining prayer.
May this oneness with You be the cause of my deepest fulfillment in
life. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Featured image above: The Exhortation to the Apostles
By James Tissot, via Wikimedia Commons
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