[Editor's Note: This article is the second in a series on the theme “Being a Man of Prayer.” Click here to find the first article]
I Miss You
When Fr. Mark first became a priest, he was so in love with Jesus that he would often spend hours before the Lord in prayer every day. But once he became pastor of a large suburban parish, he began to feel crushed by the responsibility. On his best days, he would spare only a little time to be with the Lord — and even those times were dominated by pleas for financial help for the parish and anxious fretting over the latest personality clashes among his parishioners.
Gradually, an elderly woman who was a longtime member of the parish began to notice how tired Fr. Mark was looking and how labored his homilies had become. She began praying for him, and after a week or so, she approached him. “Fr. Mark,” she said, “God told me to tell you something.” Knowing that she was a prayerful woman, he invited her into his office, sat down, and listened intently. “Maybe God has finally answered my prayer for money,” he thought. But, rather than reveal a new source of financing, she said, “Jesus wants you to know that he misses spending time with you.”
Fr. Mark was stunned. With those few, simple words, he saw how distant he had grown from the Lord. He began again to set aside time every morning for prayer, prior to saying Mass. He rearranged some of his duties and delegated some of the tasks he had recently accepted. Sure enough, the love that Fr. Mark had felt for Jesus in the early years of his priesthood began to revive. What’s more, some of the financial and relationship problems his parish was experiencing began to diminish.
A Footnote to Fr. Mark’s Testimony
“I miss you.” How heart breaking these words sound when spoken by God! For centuries, he has been imploring men of all ages to spend time with him in prayer, and people as diverse as powerful bishops and lowly peasants have responded to his call. Augustine the orator; Bernard of Clairvaux the statesman; Ignatius of Loyola the soldier — all these and countless other men spent time in God’s presence, and they grew soft and pliable as they let the Lord teach them. We as Catholic Men will experience these graces as well as we spend time in God’s presence every day in prayer.
(This article by Maurice Blumberg was part of the Catholic Men’s E-zine, Being a Man of Prayer, (March-April 2002 issue) which is available on the NFCM website. You may e-mail them at info@nfcmusa.org. Many thanks to the The Word Among Us for allowing us to include some material from various daily meditations.)
Reflection Questions on Page 2
Questions for Reflection/Discussion by Catholic Men
1. We, like Father Mark, can get consumed by our responsibilities and find little time for prayer. What suggestions do you have for keeping the busyness of your day from preventing you from having quality times of prayer with the Lord?
2. “Jesus wants you to know that he misses spending time with you.” What is your reaction to this statement? Why do you think Fr. Mark was stunned?
3. Do you believe that Jesus loves spending time with you and waits for you every day to come to him in prayer? How can personally knowing and experiencing this impact your desire to pray?
4. In what ways might you be able to rearrange your schedule and some of your daily tasks to allow some additional time for prayer?
5. If you are in a men’s group, what steps can you take with the other men in your group to be accountable to one another for a daily time of prayer? Do you consider this accountability to be important to you? Why or why not?
6. If you are in a men’s group, is sharing about how God is speaking to you or touching you through prayer a part of your men’s group meeting? Should it be? Why or why not?
