During crisis, intensify friendship with God … in stillness

The Christian life depends upon multiple things that work together to draw us closer to God. Beginning with Baptism, we receive the gift of God’s grace to assist us on our journey through life. Grace is our supernatural strength to fulfill God’s purposes in our lives. Our call is to cooperate with grace by placing God at the center of our thoughts, affections, and actions. A Christ-centered way of life will lead us not to simply obey the Lord, which isn’t bad for a start, but we are capable of much more than resignation to doing what God wants us to do. The free and loving embrace of God’s providential designs in our life will lead us to derive true joy in the willing fulfillment of God’s law, and His call to go beyond a minimal effort to stay close to Him.

The COVID-19 crisis invites us to reconsider what is important in our lives and to find renewed purpose in serving God in the Church. Isolation from ordinary times of prayer together has led many to realize how important community prayer and participation in Mass are for Catholics. But being alone also has led many to see that praying to God by ourselves is vital for our spiritual lives. Speaking with God in the intimacy of our hearts goes together with congregational prayer at our parishes in guiding us to a deeper knowledge and love of the ever-present God. When we cannot get to church, and even when we can, we must draw greater strength from private prayer, particularly in mental prayer or meditation.

In the seminary, my spiritual director put great emphasis on mental prayer. He encouraged me to pray in silence before the Blessed Sacrament for one half-hour each morning. It was not easy at first to sit in the choir stalls in our seminary chapel and pray in silence. The temptation is to consider this as time wasted in mental musings amidst distractions both interior and exterior. But the longer I engaged in this daily practice, the more I realized its value. Our lives are always in the hands of God, but we need to remind ourselves of this by turning in mind and heart to the good Lord, asking Him to inspire in our souls a renewed desire and commitment to serve him in whatever way He asks.

Legatus members are busy people. That is no secret. But if we are too busy to take time out for an interior conversation with God, then we have set the wrong priorities for ourselves. Our “busy-ness” must not become an obstacIe to our coming closer to God. I recommend that each of us take that half hour, or at least 15 minutes, each day to meditate and to converse with the Lord in silence. We should ask Him to inspire in our hearts new desires to serve Him. We should make use of the Sacred Scriptures, such as the daily Mass readings, to guide our prayer. We can also meditate upon the writings of saints and spiritual authors. I draw great inspiration each day for the meditations found in Magnificat magazine.

At the seminary, other men would likewise come to the chapel early to mediate. I always felt a sense of common purpose with them that strengthened me in seeing the value of this time of prayer. In this COVID-19 pandemic, we should remind ourselves that many other people are praying with us when we turn our thoughts to God in silence. That bond of prayer is a gift from God that gives us strength and direction. 

FATHER GERALD E. MURRAY is pastor of Holy Family Church in New York. He holds a doctorate in canon law from Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and appears as commentator on religious topics on TV and radio, including EWTN, Fox News, Fox Business, MSNBC, NY1, Radio Maria, Relevant Radio, Fox News Radio, and the Voice of America. He writes a monthly column for The Catholic Thing website. He served in the U.S. Navy Reserve Chaplain Corps from 1994 to 2005.