Living a Life Immersed in Prayer
The Woman at the Well
The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we might thirst for him. -Cathechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 2560.
Near the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus was returning to Galilee from Judea. John 4:4 reports that “He needed to go through Samaria.” This was the shortest of at least three possible routes, but as there was great antipathy between Jews and Samaritans of the time, in traveling to and from Jerusalem many Galilean Jews took the slightly longer routes to avoid having to interact with those they considered mongrels and heretics. Jesus thus did not NEED to go through Samaria, at least not objectively. Some would say the real reason for His chosen route lay in a Divine appointment at Jacob’s well, as related in John 4:1-42.
While near the town Sychar, Jesus rested by the well as the the disciples purchased food in the city. There he met a woman, an outcast even among her own people. To her utter shock, this Jewish rabbi engaged her in conversation, asking her to give him a drink, then offering her living water, “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” After their encounter, she left her urn and ran off to spread the news of her life-changing meeting. Many Samaritans heard her emotional testimony, and despite her low reputation, were moved to quickly retrace her steps and meet Jesus for themselves. These Samaritans urged Jesus to stay with them, and many more came to believe.
Our Daily Need for Prayer
Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. …But we cannot pray “at all times” if we do not pray at specific times, consciously willing it. -CCC 2697
Our souls need prayer just as our bodies we need food. Or to continue the metaphor, our spirit naturally thirsts in the same way our bodies thirst, moment to moment and day to day. Catholic author and speaker Matthew Kelly urges us to make a daily habit of prayer, ten minutes a day to start. In his book Rediscover Catholicism He writes:
“It would be nice if our souls growled when they were hungry, like our stomachs do. But they don’t. Your immortal soul is the most valuable possession you have – feed it, nurture it, celebrate it. The saints realized the value of their immortal souls, so they made it a priority to nurture and nourish them. …I hope you will realize this too …and I hope that, having come to this realization, you will begin to nourish and nurture your soul. …Ten minutes a day. Begin today.” (pg. 180)
Expressions of Prayer
Prayer is like a conversation. We can pray alone or in community, in silence or aloud. There are three basic expressions of prayer, each deeper and more intense than the one that comes before: Vocal (or Mental) Prayer, Meditation, and Contemplative Prayer (See CCC 2700-2724). Loosely, Vocal Prayer can be likened to “Listen God, your servant is speaking” while Meditation and Contemplative Prayer lead us into deeper communion: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3). We cannot delve into a deeper prayer life without becoming faithful at vocal prayer first!
St. Teresa of Ávila, the “Apostle of Prayer”
Prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. -St. Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) was the third of nine children born to Alfonso Sanchez de Capeda and Beatriz Davila y Ahumada. She was born during a tumultuous period, in the depths of the Spanish Inquisition and at the birth of the Protestant Reformation, both of which would come into direct conflict in Teresa’s adult years. Young Teresa was attractive, witty, charming, and a gifted writer. According to biographer Gina Loehr, “The people of Ávila were of the opinion that Teresa would marry whomever she pleased. And indeed she did, though the journey that led her to be the bride of Christ was not a direct one.”
As a young Carmelite nun, Teresa struggled with bouts of illness and, like many of her fellow Carmelites, spent as much or more time pursuing worldly comforts as she did times of prayer. A profound moment of conversion led her to sincerely seek a deep mystical union with Jesus, and she went on to found the Discalced Carmelites, a reform order that lived a more austere and disciplined lifestyle, as illustrated by the term discalced, meaning “shoeless.”
Watering our Garden
St. Teresa is often called the “Apostle of Prayer.” She compares the various expressions of prayer to methods of watering our “garden.” Vocal Prayer is mostly our effort, going to the well and bringing back the filled pail. Meditation is more like gathering it from a nearby aqueduct (Jesus meets us at the well), while the depths and ecstasies of Contemplative Prayer can be like experiencing a misting rain or being in the middle of a gentle stream (Jesus brings the “Living Water” to us, or better, it wells up within us). As Father Alfred McBride writes in How to Pray Like Jesus and the Saints, “Jesus thirsts for our union with him, and we thirst for the living God. The first stages of prayer are marked by our actions, then, as we become aware of our dry souls, in need of the living waters of Christ to “moisturize” them.”
One of the last things Jesus spoke in His humanity was “I thirst.” (Jn 19:28). He also stated, “If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” (Jn 7:37-38). No matter who you are or what you have done in the past, Jesus is waiting at the well, thirsting for your company. Go out to meet Him. Make it a daily appointment, first thing in the morning or last thing at night. Jesus promises that “Whoever drinks of this [well] water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water I give will never thirst. The water I give will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Come. Draw the water. Drink.
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