17-10-24 Melampaui Ritual : Mengapa Doa yang Tulus Lebih Bermakna

Thursday 28th week in ordinary time "Lk 11:47-54" "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering." These 'lawyers' shouldn't be confused with modern-day solicitors or barristers. They were called 'lawyers' because they were in charge of teaching the 'Law of Moses'. They studied the Bible and knew everything about it; but apparently they weren't practising it or teaching it properly to the people. They knew the Scripture but they didn't know God. They read the Bible but didn't know Its Author. They spoke about God but they never spoke with God. If they had spent less time talking about God and more time talking to God they would have recognised Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah they were expecting. They weren't men of prayer. St Teresa of Avila is a good teacher of prayer. She became a nun at the age of 20. For more than 20 years she lived in the Monastery but didn't pray properly. She certainly said prayers… but didn't have a personal dialogue with God. Visitors often popped into the monastery, distracting her from her duties and maintaining frivolous and vain conversations. One day she saw a picture of Jesus scourged and wearing the crown of thorns; she felt sorry for her waste of time, for not loving Jesus as she should. Teresa fell on her knees in tears and implored Jesus to change her life. And Jesus heard her prayer. Those dialogues with God changed her life and she changed the world. Fully in love with God, she wrote remarkable teachings on prayer and how to talk to God. "For prayer," she said, "is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God." She taught that all that was needed was for people to look upon Jesus as He is represented in the Gospel, and to talk to Him: "This friendly conversation will not be much thinking but much loving, not many words but rather a relaxed conversation with moments of silence as there must be between friends." Holy Mary, Mother of God, teach me to talk to your Son as friends do!