Christian or Esoteric Prayer?
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”Ps. 121
Many believe that they are Christians, but they still do not understand the fundamentals of Christianity and have a pre-evangelized faith, as if it were esoteric, because they seek God and turn to Him from their deified ego, believing that they know more than God, wanting to tear a favor from God, looking to God for a servant who will attend to your subjective pleas.
The true Christian is not so ignorant of God to be at that level of self-centeredness, wanting only a genie from the lamp to grant his(her) wishes. The Christian knows a loving God, in whom he(she) can blindly trust even more than in him(her)self; that is why he(she) wants to listen to him and do his will.
The Christian knows that he(she) is immensely loved by God, knows that he(she) has more than he(she) deserves, and knows that he(she) is immensely blessed. He(She) is aware that they are in a human condition as a result of sin, taking up the cross every day to follow Jesus and reach the Father. He(She) goes to God seeking to please Him, to know His will in order to fulfill it, to serve Him, and entrusts his (her) needs to God.
If you ever dare to ask him for something, you are aware that God loves much more than we do and wants all good much more than we do, so he humbly expresses like Jesus:
“Lord, if it is possible, take this cup away from me, or relieve my son, or help my daughter-in-law, …. But not my will but yours be done.”Luke 22,42
With that confidence he prays to God for something good and then always adds: your will be done, as Jesus taught us to say also in the Our Father.
The esoteric prays to bend the arm of God to his(her) own will, very attached to his(her) desires and does not want to let go of them for anything, he(she) would do anything, would go to any saint, would pay anything to achieve that desire, because he(she) trusts his(her)self and some practices or rites as only God should be trusted. This person has not yet received the evangelization, the light of Christ, because he(she) has not yet freed his(her)self from his(her) ego, which is the first thing that Jesus requires in order to be his disciples:
“Leave yourself, take up your cross every day and follow me.”Luke 9,23ff
The Christian instead prays to bend his(her)self to do or have God’s will done. He is the God I must listen to and follow, the one I must serve, not He to me. He freed me from the selfish disorder, and for this reason I already enjoy loving, being loved, even when it costs me sacrifice, because I no longer live for myself, and that is the greatest thing I have received from God, the liberation of my ego, to always seek His will and please Him more than myself. If I was still focused on myself, I wouldn’t even be able to pray the Our Father from heart.
“For the love of Christ impels us… He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised…”2 Corinthians 5,14s
“I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.”Galatians 2,20
Readings for the Week
Monday: Eph 2:1-10; Ps 100:1b-5; Lk 12:13-21
Tuesday: 2 Tm 4:10-17b; Ps 145:10-13, 17-18; Lk 10:1-9
Wednesday: Eph 3:2-12; Is 12:2-3, 4bcd-6; Lk 12:39-48
Thursday: Eph 3:14-21; Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19; Lk 12:49-53
Friday: Eph 4:1-6; Ps 24:1-4ab, 5-6; Lk 12:54-59
Saturday: Eph 4:7-16; Ps 122:1-5; Lk 13:1-9
Sunday: Sir 35:12-14, 16-18; Ps 34:2-3, 17-19, 23; 2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk 18:9-14
Saints & Special Observances
Sunday: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday: St. Ignatius of Antioch; National Boss’s Day
Tuesday: St. Luke
Wednesday: Ss. John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, and Companions
Thursday: St. Paul of the Cross
Saturday: St. John Paul II; Blessed Virgin Mary