And yet, these same people pray before they start a session. To win against each other they would organize prayer rallies. One group would pray for the removal of the president; another would pray for a parliamentary government; another group calls on God to remove or punish this or that official suspected of wrongdoing; each one praying for some vested interest. Whose prayer will God hear?
"For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there Am I in the midst of them" (Mt. 13:29). The presence of God amongst us is assured only when we gather in the name of Christ Jesus who is One assurance of the efficacy of prayer and that is the presence of God in our midst, in the midst of those who are in solidarity with God and one another. People in a body, fighting with one another hitting each other with angry words are not in solidarity. They destroy the unity which should be in humankind. People who threaten each other with vengeance, with harm, or plot against each other to get at their power are not in solidarity. They sow seeds of strife and discord which eventuality will destroy as nations.
Unity is a fact which emerges from the multitude of ways in which all people are bound to, and depend on each other. This is a goal God wants us to reach. "That they all may be one as You, Father in Me and I in You. That they all may be one in us. That the world may believe You have sent Me," thus prayed Jesus after His last Supper with His apostles. This unity necessarily proceeds from the will of God for all of us to be redeemed from sin and which seeks the restoration of that unity brought about by sin.
To bring about unity is a task and a duty for us. In the gracious self-communication of the one living God who is Christ, the Redeemer, we find our unity, our communion; we find our solidarity. Only those who are within such a solidarity, such a peaceful unity are assured of the presence of God in their midst. No strife finds its proper solution except in this communion with one another, a unity in God.
No amount of reasoning, of disputations, of debates, of emotional showdowns, no matter how brilliant are the discourses on what is the law and who violated or upheld this, if they do not go to the source which will unlock the crux of the whole matter politicians are bickering, unless they seek salvation in the truth, in justice and freedom, in the peace of Christ that is the reign of Christ. And that peace can only come about if individuals and groups alike will make a turn-about and drop all self-interest, the greed for money, the mad ambition for power and above all their alienation from the God who alone can promise that He will be present in the midst of those who live and act only in His Name.
Universal prayer is possible only in solidarity. No matter what religion we profess, if we are in the truth, if we profess the faith which does justice in actual life, if we are free from such slavery of worldly possessions and power and if we live in charity, then we can be counted as one of those who are gathered together in the Name of the living God, then we can be assured of God’s presence in our midst which makes for the efficacy of prayer.
Sept. 24 - St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish, UP- Los Baños, Laguna
Sept. 24 - St. Paul University, Tuguegarao
Sept. 25 - St. Paul University-Manila
For more details, contact the Jesuit Promotions Office at tel. 426-6101 or mobile number (0927) 2184567 (Xave, SJ) and (0927) 6492119 (Shio, SJ).