Prayer: Making God Present and Active in the World
Acts 1:12-14; 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 17:1-11a
Once upon a time, Jesus Christ physically walked down the streets of Palestine, visited friends and foes, loved, healed, and saved all through his death on the Cross of Calvary. Now, with the Ascension over with, the question is: Is God still with us? Through Vatican II (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7), the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist, in the Presiding Priest at Mass, in the gathered Eucharistic assembly, in the Sacraments and in his Word. Today, our liturgical readings take up the idea of “prayer” as the means of revealing the presence of God. And the “liturgy” does this to express the fact that all the five ways in which Jesus’ presences are made manifest are all in contexts and situations of prayer!
If you want Jesus Christ to appear, pray! “Prayer” is making God present and active in the world; just as he did walk down the streets of Palestine, so can we make him walk down our streets today, albeit, in another form; we can make him sit down to share our meals, sorrows and joys with us. To understand the power of God is to understand that God is still present—the power of prayer!
The first appearance of Jesus Christ on the planet earth, as man, was necessitated by the power of sin – “for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,” says our Creed. Our sins cried out to heaven – our sins was a prayer of invocation for our condemnation. But because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son . . .” (John 3:16-17), the answer to the prayer of our sin to God and against God is salvation. The Exsultet calls it “Oh happy fault”! However, having dealt with sin and conquered it, Jesus Christ ascended to the Father on Ascension Thursday – ten days before Pentecost. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus commanded his disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. According to our first reading, the “waiting period” was a time of prayer – the disciples “were united in prayer.”
Interestingly, those who were in the “upper room” waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit were men and women, apostles and disciples, Mary the Mother of Jesus and members of Jesus’ family. What does that teach us? Prayer is for everyone, irrespective of gender and race, consanguinity and ethnicity. “Prayer” jumps the very first huddle – division on the basis of any pretext whatsoever. First, “prayer” is a communal experience, just as salvation and sin were communal realities. Second, “prayer” is a sign of obedience to Jesus’ request to his follows – “wait” for the gift of the Father. Third, “prayer” is an act of faith in a God who fulfills all his promises, including the promise to send the Holy Spirit.
Despite the five ways in which Jesus is present to his Church and people, Vatican II failed to mention another aspect of God’s presence – the NAME of God or Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:10-11). In addition to the different qualities of “prayer” as communal, obedience and faith, “prayer” is an invocation of the Name of God or Jesus Christ. Our gospel today makes the case that Jesus Christ revealed the Name of God to those who believed in him. This is to say, to have faith or to belong to a community of faith is to realize the power in the name of God – “I revealed your NAME to those whom you gave me out of the world” (John 17:6), says today’s gospel.
In the Old Testament, and in the Commandments of Old, taking “the NAME of God in vain” (Exodus 20:7) is a sin. Why is that? There is respect, honor due and power in the NAME of God. In fact, part of the reason for not calling the name of God in vain is to prevent the misuse and manipulation of the name of God, for the people of ancient time. But for us, so that we may be a people of prayer, those who pray without ceasing, the name of God was revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Indeed, part of the mission of Jesus Christ, apart from granting salvation to all, is to reveal God to humanity, to provide and make accessible the knowledge of God – “Now this is eternal life, that they should KNOW you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3).
The “knowledge” of God leads to the invocation of God or prayer. To know God is to ask whatever one wills because there is the guarantee and assurance that God will grant it. “Prayer” bridges the gap between Christians and God, the distance created by Jesus’ departure from earth and his ascension to the Father. We can borrow a leaf from the miracles of the Acts of the Apostles – at the invocation of the name of Jesus healing and exorcisms took place. In fact, Paul says that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven, on the earth and under the earth (Phil 2:10).
When do I pray? I should pray always, but especially when the “hour” has come. The “hour” of Jesus, of which our gospel today speaks, was the time of his agony and death on the Cross for the salvation of the world. At that “hour,” Jesus was glorified by God his Father because God his Father made himself present to his Son, strengthened him for the shame and triumph of the Cross. When you and I are tempted, do we remember to pray and invoke the name of God? Curiously, Jesus prays to reveal to us that distances are bridged through prayer and presences created. Jesus consulted with his Father through prayer. Even now, Jesus continues to pray for us and to teach us to pray – “I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them” (John 17:9-10).
Troubled times are part and parcel of the Christian life and living. If you know the power of God, the power in his NAME, then nothing and no one can take your joy away from you, the joy of Christ. The reason is this – “Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly” (1 Peter 4:13). This is the teaching of our second reading, “sufferings” precede glorification, sweat before crown, labour before harvest and reward. But what makes the difference between a believer and unbeliever is that a believer never suffers for what is wrong, but for being in the right (“But let no one among you be made to suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as an intriguer”). The invocation of the name of God makes God present and brings about the protection and support of God to those who invoke his name, according to our second reading – “But whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the NAME” (1 Peter 4:16).
Perhaps we need to pay attention to the concept of the “upper room”: why “upper room” and not “lower-room” or basement? To “go up” is to be near God and to go above earthly and human levels. The “upper room” is already a first step towards being with God. To be in the “upper room” is to be in communion with God, through prayers. Jesus went to the upper room for his last supper with his disciples. Jerusalem and the mountains of God are all elevated places, to accentuate the effort necessary to go to and meet with God. From the “upper room,” it was easy for Peter to talk and communicate the power and message of Pentecost to the gathered assembly below. To have encountered God in the “upper room” is to be in a better position to communicate him to others.
May we invoke God’s name in prayer this week, and may the presence of God surround us always!