What really is Mental Prayer? 

Since this is my last chance to lead you into holiness, I thought I should give you something that you know comes from my heart.  As Jesus hung upon the cross, he said His 7 Last Words � and each of them speaks volumes and was meant for us to lead us home � so now my few words, at the time of my departure, I pray will be helpful on your journey to our Father�s Kingdom�

 Mental prayer is very necessary, in order that we may have light to go on the journey to eternity.  Eternal truths are spiritual things that are not seen with the eyes of the body, but only by the reflection of the mind.  If one does not meditate, one does not see them, and therefore does advance only with great difficulty along the way of salvation.  Further, those who do not meditate do not know their own failings, and therefore, says St. Bernard, they do not detest them; so they do not see the dangers they are in � and since they do not see them, they do not think of avoiding them.  But when we do meditate, our failings and perils quickly present themselves � and when we see them, we seek to remedy them.  St. Bernard further said that meditation regulates our affections, directs our actions and corrects our defects.

St. Catherine of Bologna said, �Meditation is the bond which bind the soul to God; the king brought me into the wine-cellar, he fixed his love upon me.�  This wine-cellar is meditation, in which the soul becomes so inebriated with divine love that it loses, as it were, its sense for the things of the world; it sees only that which pleases its beloved; it speaks only of the beloved; it would only hear of the beloved; every other discourse wearies and troubles it.  In meditation, the soul, retiring to converse alone with God, rests upon itself: �let him sit alone in silence, when it is laid upon him� (Lam 3:28).  When the soul sits � that is, shuts itself up in meditation to consider how worthy is our God of love, and how great is the love He bears to it � it thus tastes of God, and fills itself with holy thoughts, and detaches itself from earthly affections and conceives great desire for becoming holy, and finally resolves to give itself wholly to God.  And where but in meditation have the saints made their most generous resolutions, which have lifted them up to the highest point of perfection?

 St. John of the Cross also spoke about mental prayer: �here we open our heart, here we learn sweet doctrine, and make ourselves wholly to belong to God.  Reserving nothing, and espousing ourselves to him.�  St. Aloysius Gonzaga said that no one will ever attain a high degree of perfection who is not much given to meditation.  We must earnestly learn to give ourselves to meditation, and not leave it aside because we do not know how to, or feel too tired or too educated or what not� to engage in this activity.  This activity will be richly compensated by our heavenly Father � and no one who ever really was caught up in meditation, said that it was a waste of time or something they should never have learned. 

 In order to practice mental prayer or meditate well and make it so that our soul profits by it, we must know why we do this:

1) So that we unite ourselves more closely to God.  It is not so much the lofty thoughts that make us holy, but that our desires and our will gets strengthened and we desire more and more to follow the path of holiness.  And what we meditate on are: acts of humility, confidence, self-sacrifice, resignation to the will of God, and especially love of God and repentance for our sins.  It is these acts of love that keep the soul inflamed to with holy love.

 2) We must meditate in order to obtain from God, by prayer, the graces that are necessary in order to enable us to advance in the way of salvation, to avoid sin, and to take the means that will lead us to perfection.  The best fruit, then, that comes from meditation is the exercise of prayer.  It is true that God always bestows His graces upon us, but God�s graces come in torrents only to those who engage in mental prayer.  St. Gregory writes: �God desires to be entreated, He desires to be constrained, He desires to be as it were, conquered by importunity.�  This last part meaning that it is not enough simply to pray, but we must pray urgently, and as it were compel God by our prayers to give them.

 Above all, we must engage in meditation, in order to obtain perseverance and holy love of God.  Final perseverance is not a single grace, but a chain of graces, which have corresponded to our chain of prayers; if we cease to pray, God will cease to give us His help � not that He wants to, but we do close ourselves to the graces our Father has in store for us.

When we meditate, we must not do this for the spiritual consolation we receive during these times.  Rather, we continue on this path, so as to learn what the will of God is concerning us.  Some people continue as long as they experience joy, happiness or other consolations � and when they cease, they leave off meditation.  It is true that God bestows special delights on those who try to come  close to Him; but these consolations are also a foretaste of the joys of heaven.  Most people discard these heavenly pleasures for the pleasures of this world � if they would know the delights that come from union with God, they would shut themselves into their room for meditations or spend long times in Church by the Tabernacle, so as to be alone with God!

 Meditation is nothing more than a conversation between the soul and God; the soul pours forth to Him its affections, its desires, its fears, its requests, and God speaks to the heart, causing it to know His goodness, and the love which He bears for the soul, and it learns what it must do to please Him.  �I will lead her into the desert, and speak to her heart� (Hos 2:16).

 As much as we talk about delights in meditation, they are not constant, and, for the most part, holy souls experience much dryness of spirit in meditation.  St. Teresa says that �with dryness and temptations the Lord makes proof of those who love Him.� � And she continues: �even if this dryness lasts through life, let not the soul leave off meditation; the time will come when all will be well rewarded.�  Most people do not know this, but it is especially in these times of dryness that they gain the greatest rewards; and when we find ourselves apparently without fervor, without good desires, and as it were, unable to do a good act, it is then when we humble ourselves and resign ourselves to God�s will for us � that�s when we draw the most graces down from heaven.  We pray in times like these that God will continue to help us, we also implore our Mama Mary to intercede for us (she is God�s Channel of Grace), St. Joseph to be close and to protect and guard us, and our Guardian Angels to assist us.

Before Jesus left His disciples He gave them a sign of His love: He instituted the Eucharist.  As I leave John Day and St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church, I cannot leave you anything better but the Body and Blood of Christ.  Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you.  Make the holy Mass the center of your lives and if you have not done so, enter into meditation so as to redirect your lives.  We have one life to live, we have an ability to think (which can be a dangerous thing) � but we also have a heart, which ought to be the dwelling place of God.  Let Him in, think of Him and He will lead you to our eternal home.

 

The New Priest

The new priest is Fr. Richard Edelin.  He has been in Hermiston the last few years as an associate pastor to Fr. Joe Reinig.  Fr. Joe will leave on the 3^rd to go to Bend to take over the parish there � and Fr. Richard will come to take charge of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church.  But it does not matter who comes, for any validly ordained priest, sent by the bishop,  has the power to confect Christ on the Altar and he can take your sins away, and dispense all the other Sacraments.  Welcome him as you would Christ Himself, as you have welcomed me in your midst; for �I was a stranger and you took me in� (Mt 25:35).  I will continue to hold you in my heart.  Over time our hearts do get bigger and we find room for one more person to put into our hearts, and another and another � so do not give up, there are lots more people who need to experience God�s love for them � THROUGH YOU!!!

Thank You!

Thank you for all your love and kindness during my stay � you guys are really �TOP DRAWER!�

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