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August 7, 2012
Greetings! Below you'll find Fr. Cassian's most recent homily from this past Sunday. Also, please keep Br. Evagrius in your prayers as he professes his solemn vows on Saturday, August 11th. If you can't make it, but would like to show your support, click here.
Authentic Prayer in Both Body and Soul
by Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B.
Monastery of San Benedetto, Norcia, Italy
by Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B.
Monastery of San Benedetto, Norcia, Italy
The Gospel is always nourishment for our soul. Today, the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector offers several points for our reflection.
- The Pharisees
The Pharisees constituted a group of “strictly observing” followers, full of zeal for the things of God. Remember that St. Paul belonged to this group before his conversion. Thus, in itself, it was a group worthy of admiration. But religion can be manipulated for personal ends, and the Pharisee in the parable was a master of manipulation. Note that the Gospel doesn’t simply say that he prayed, but that he prayed with himself (Lk 18:11). He didn’t direct himself to God, but spoke to himself, listing all of his virtues; and not only that, but to better highlight his great qualities, he listed all of the vices of the tax collector. In reality, his prayer is false. The fact that someone expresses himself with virtuous language doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s a pious and good person, worthy of praise. One can use religion—even unconsciously—for personal ends: egoism, pride, and dominion over other people. Be aware of the wolves disguised as sheep!
- The Tax Collector
On the other hand, the tax collector recognizes that he is a sinner, and for this reason, the Lord says that he returned to his house justified (Lk 18:14). Due to his compunction, he didn’t stand near the temple, but he stood at a distance; due to his shame, he did not even dare raise his eyes to heaven; due to his repentance, he beat his breast, saying: “O God, have mercy on me, a sinner! St. Benedict cites this Gospel passage, when, in the chapter on humility, he talks about the interior and exterior attitude of the humble monk.
The book of Sirach develops this same idea. It says: A man is known by his appearance, and a sensible man is known by his face, when you meet him. And it continues: A man’s attire and open-mouthed laughter, and a man’s manner of walking, show what he is (Sir 19:29-30). In fact, our every day experience confirms that things are exactly like this: the bodily attitude reveals the interior man.
The twelfth degree of humility is, when a monk is not only humble of heart, but always lets it appear also in his whole exterior to all that see him; namely, at the Work of God, in the garden, on a journey, in the field, or wherever he may be, sitting, walking, or standing, let him always have his head bowed down, his eyes fixed on the ground, ever holding himself guilty of his sins, thinking that he is already standing before the dread judgment seat of God, and always saying to himself in his heart what the publican in the Gospel said, with his eyes fixed on the ground: "Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up mine eyes to heaven" (Lk 18:13); and again with the Prophet: "I am bowed down and humbled exceedingly" (RB VII).But, if the monk always had his gaze fixed literally towards earth, then it would be an exaggeration. Yet St. Benedict’s fundamental intuition in this regard remains significant. The point is that the interior virtue of humility should manifest itself exteriorly through the bodily attitude of the monk; the body mirrors the interior life of the person, his state of soul. So, for the tax collector, the prayer was characterized by the awareness of sin and, therefore, by the bodily attitude of humility.
The book of Sirach develops this same idea. It says: A man is known by his appearance, and a sensible man is known by his face, when you meet him. And it continues: A man’s attire and open-mouthed laughter, and a man’s manner of walking, show what he is (Sir 19:29-30). In fact, our every day experience confirms that things are exactly like this: the bodily attitude reveals the interior man.
- The Jesus Prayer
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this parable is the fact that the prayer of the tax collector, O God, be merciful to me a sinner has had enormous success in the history of Christian spirituality. Slowly, with a few additions, the prayer was modified, updated, and today sounds like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” the so-called “Jesus Prayer”. This prayer belongs to the ancient tradition of using brief verses, ejaculations, prayers of only a few words, repeated continually, that have the goal of focusing the mind (which otherwise wanders) and fixing its attention on the things of God.
This form of prayer, the Jesus Prayer, comes from the monastic tradition of the 4th and 5th century, a form of prayer which was mostly developed in the Eastern Churches. “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
In this short phrase, we see the spirit of repentance and at the same time, a great trust in the infinite mercy of God. The Jesus Prayer, taken from today’s Gospel, has a rich theological and spiritual content. Note the Trinitarian aspect: Jesus gets named “Lord”, and no one can say Jesus is Lord—as we heard in the first reading—if not but by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:3). And Jesus is called “Son of God”, and in the Gospels, we always see the Son in relation to the Father.
When we say “have mercy on us”, the role of the Lord as Savior gets emphasized. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (Jn 3:16); Jesus is our savior, and he saves us from our sins (cf. Mt. 1:21).
Then, salvation is connected to a rich theology of one’s Name. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12); at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God (Phil 2:10-11).
He who uses this prayer, as a way of helping with his concentration, very often uses a type of rosary, a knotted cord, which usually has 100 knots. It’s very simple – a sort of rosary of the East. It is a very efficacious form of meditation, which allows a person who prays to concentrate on His name and on the person of Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
He who prays manifests whether his life is more or less authentic. He even manifests it through his bodily attitude. Therefore, let us pray to the Lord with the words of the tax collector, and we will see that slowly but surely our life will correspond to the content of the prayer: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (The Monks Of Norcia: here)
This form of prayer, the Jesus Prayer, comes from the monastic tradition of the 4th and 5th century, a form of prayer which was mostly developed in the Eastern Churches. “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
In this short phrase, we see the spirit of repentance and at the same time, a great trust in the infinite mercy of God. The Jesus Prayer, taken from today’s Gospel, has a rich theological and spiritual content. Note the Trinitarian aspect: Jesus gets named “Lord”, and no one can say Jesus is Lord—as we heard in the first reading—if not but by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:3). And Jesus is called “Son of God”, and in the Gospels, we always see the Son in relation to the Father.
When we say “have mercy on us”, the role of the Lord as Savior gets emphasized. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (Jn 3:16); Jesus is our savior, and he saves us from our sins (cf. Mt. 1:21).
Then, salvation is connected to a rich theology of one’s Name. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12); at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God (Phil 2:10-11).
He who uses this prayer, as a way of helping with his concentration, very often uses a type of rosary, a knotted cord, which usually has 100 knots. It’s very simple – a sort of rosary of the East. It is a very efficacious form of meditation, which allows a person who prays to concentrate on His name and on the person of Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
He who prays manifests whether his life is more or less authentic. He even manifests it through his bodily attitude. Therefore, let us pray to the Lord with the words of the tax collector, and we will see that slowly but surely our life will correspond to the content of the prayer: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (The Monks Of Norcia: here)
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