Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle. AP FILE PHOTO
Everybody must learn to pray, according to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.
The Pope, Tagle said, wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and starts praying. At 6:30 a.m., he is ready for Mass. At midday he says prayers and does an examination of conscience. Before going to sleep, he spends another hour praying before the Blessed Sacrament.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the Pope, a very busy person,鈥� Tagle said, noting that the busier one is, the more one needs to pray.
When one prays, even an ordinary event takes on a divine nature. God gives it meaning, Tagle said as he opened the parish-wide Lenten Recollection of St. James the Great at Ayala Alabang Village on Monday.
鈥淛esus opened Himself to God through His prayer,鈥� Tagle said.
The human in Jesus, Tagle said, asked that He be spared the pain of what lay ahead, but that not His, but only the Father鈥檚, will be done. In the end, Jesus鈥� prayer 鈥渢ransformed His death from being the loss of life to a giver of life.鈥�
Prayer can be described as a 鈥渃ry from the heart, a groaning 鈥� but sometimes it is depicted as just silence.鈥� One does not even have to express prayer in words, Tagle said.
He recalled seeing a man who looked like a beggar kneeling at the foot of a cross in a church one Good Friday. As it was Lent, all the images in the church were covered in purple.
The man鈥檚 hand, Tagle said, 鈥渨as straining to hold on to Christ. His face was covered with tears. There were no words. He was just a child with no one to turn to. Whatever that person might have been going through, the Father has seen, heard and understood.鈥�
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Best guide to prayer
The Bible, Tagle said, is 鈥渟till the best guide鈥� for a life of prayer. 鈥淚t is full of the prayer life of individuals and communities, their histories 鈥� it is God teaching us how to pray,鈥� he said.
The recent bar topnotcher鈥檚 attributing 鈥�90 percent鈥� of her success to prayer endeared her to many and showed 鈥渢here is hope for lawyers,鈥� Tagle said. 鈥淚f only they will pray.鈥�
Tagle urged parents to teach their children to 鈥渇all in love鈥� with the Lord鈥檚 Prayer, the Our Father.
Only God鈥檚 name should be 鈥渉allowed鈥� or praised, Tagle reminded his audience. When one prays 鈥淭hy will be done,鈥� it means not letting one鈥檚 pride and ambition rule, he said.
鈥淕ive us this day our daily bread鈥� mean鈥檚 a day鈥檚鈥攏ot a month鈥檚鈥攕upply of bread. A month鈥檚 supply would mean hoarding and just lead to waste, he said.
鈥淭he Our Father is a prayer coming from the heart of a child, its efficacy is rooted in the faith of a child in the father. And the father determines and responds to the heart of a child,鈥� he said.
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Compartmentalization
Tagle urged church organizations to avoid 鈥渃ompartmentalizing鈥� activities, such that praying is confined to only a group named as the prayer warriors. But all should pray, he stressed.
Organizing committee members get disorganized when they do not pray, and lectors may just be overly concerned with 鈥淒ICshun,鈥� Tagle said, configuring his mouth to illustrate and drawing laughter from the congregation.
Tagle tied prayer to mission. 鈥淭he prayer of Jesus clarified for Him His mission. His mission was a product of his prayer. We pray to discern what God wants for us. Our mission, our service to the community, can鈥檛 be clarified if we don鈥檛 pray,鈥� he said.
Jesting, Tagle said it might be 鈥渄angerous to pray鈥� because one might hear God, which could make one change one鈥檚 priorities. But be ready for such an experience, he said. St. Francis of Assisi sold all his belongings. St. Teresa of Avila knew she needed nothing in life but God. With prayer, one will realize that 鈥淕od suffices,鈥� he said.
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The Pope鈥檚 prayerful life
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In closing, Tagle, whose archdiocese hosted the recent visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines, told about how a prayerful life may have deeply influenced the Pope鈥檚 life as a pastor today.
He said that amid the wildly warm reception the Pope experienced鈥攆rom his arrival at the airport and through the ride on the popemobile to the Papal Nunciature鈥擣rancis was actually 鈥減raying, looking for the presence of God.鈥�
Was it in the crowds that greeted him? Tagle recalled that before getting off the popemobile, the Pope asked him, 鈥淗ow much did you pay those people to come out and greet me?鈥�
鈥淚n cases like that, you must answer quickly,鈥� Tagle said. He said that thinking the Pope was joking, he replied, 鈥淲e promised that all of them will go to heaven.鈥�
Tagle said that according to the Pope, 鈥淪t. Ignatius of Loyola said that we need instruments to touch hearts but only God can go directly to touch the heart. It was God touching hearts.鈥�
鈥淭hat is a prayerful attitude,鈥� Tagle said. 鈥淭hat probably got developed through years and years of praying.鈥�
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