THE TRANFORMING POWER OF MENTAL PRAYER.

THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF MENTAL PRAYER

And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white.

(Lk 9:29).

I was doing my mental prayer and these words of the Gospel caught my attention. PRAYER TRANSFORMED JESUS’ COUNTENANCE AND VESTMENTS RESULTING TO HIS GLORIOUS APPEARANCE, HIS TRANSFIGURATION, which is an anticipation of the glory of his followers after assimilating and living the Passion and Death of Our Lord in their own lives.

PRAYER TRANSFORMS US FROM WITHIN. It helps us see God’s will which when we lovingly accept, causes a radiant change in our heart, in our thoughts, in our attitude and mood, in our way of seeing the circumstances of our life.

• Through prayer, we are able to discern how Jesus would act if he were in our place. Prayers enables us to identify our thoughts, feelings, desires and actions with those of Our Lord, thereby becoming other Christs, Christ himself (St. Josemaria)
• With prayer, we learn how to abandon and entrust all our problems into the hands of the Father such that what used to be humanly oppressive and burdensome becomes lighter and less problematic for we no longer carry the load but rather Our Lord Himself.
• An authentic prayer life leads us to behave differently, at least, striving to make our prayer influence in fulfilling God’s will in our home, in our place of work, in our dealings with others, our rest…

The clearest sign that our prayer is done well and pleasant in God’s eyes, beyond the personal sensation – more or less objective-, that we have made an effort not to be distracted, and to listen to God’s voice, etc., is the verification of the capacity to change, to transform our behavior.

• If I am angry before doing my mental prayer and I continue to do so when I finish, then my prayer wasn’t done well. The same thing is true if I am sad, too overwhelmed, heartbroken, proud, lazy, etc.
• The Holy Cure of Ars said that in oratione quae rite fiat, dolores dissolvuntur, sicut coram sole nives, in a well-done prayer, pains melt like snow before the sun.

A similar idea is expressed by St. Josemaria when he speaks of prayer as the best analgesic, pain reliever. All this is so because prayer is a dialogue of love and the more one progresses in prayer, the more charity ignites.

Hence, as Benedict XVI has said, true prayer consists precisely in uniting our will to that of God (Angelus, 4.111.07).

Dear friends, let us dedicate some moments to mental prayer, a personal conversation with Our Lord every day to listen what Our Lord wants to tell us -“This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him (Lk 9: 35)”-, to grow in our knowledge and love for God, discern, fulfill and love His Divine Will and obtain as well the graces we need in our daily struggles as we faithfully follow Our Lord in this life. 

After all, as St. Teresa of Avila put it, “Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God. It is frequently conversing in secret with Him who loves us.” By doing so, we will experience the transforming power of mental prayer in our life as well. Made possible above all by receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, we will grow in our knowledge, friendship, intimacy, union and love with Jesus: in short, we will identify ourselves with Him.

Lord Jesus, help me become more like you!

Stay safe and God bless,
Fr. Rolly Arjonillo

HOW TO DO MENTAL PRAYER? CLICK HERE.

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