Liturgy October 12
Fidelity to our calling thus requires each one of us and each community to persevere in prayer and in calling upon the name of the Lord (Const. 16.1).
“Moses took the tent and put it up at some distance from the camp; he called it the Meeting Tent . . . The Eternal One spoke with Moses face to face, as a person speaks to a friend” (Ex 33:7-11). The story is told of an old man, a street person, who made a visit to the parish church every day. He went in and headed for the first pew up front. He sat for a while and then left. The pastor often saw him and, concerned about the security of the church, confronted him one day. “Excuse me, sir. What are you doing here?” “Father, I have come to pray.” “But you don’t have a rosary or a prayer book. And I have never seen your lips moving!” “That’s true, Father, but I do come to pray.” “Pray, what do you mean?” “Well, Father, I come in, I sit close to the altar and I begin. I look at God and God looks at me. And after a while I leave.” What a witness! This is what prayer is: God and human being simply looking at each other. Without saying a word, the two communicate profoundly. Something happens. God penetrates the heart of the person, the person remains in the embrace of God’s transforming love. Since the first putting up of the Meeting Tent, every form of prayer seeks such an encounter.
For an adult, a sustained look is a request. (Shi)
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