Every weekday at 12:05 noon, people gather in this church for the celebration of the Mass. The doors are actually open long before that time, and it's truly revealing to watch just for a little while to see how many people come and go, some for a few moments and others for prolonged lengths of time.
Each in his or her own way comes to whisper a prayer, to seek advise, to render thanks or just to find some peace in the middle of an otherwise busy day. Sitting in silence is far from the normal routine that many people experience, but this is precisely what makes the practice of daily prayer so enticing: an oasis in the midst of an otherwise hectic life that provides an opportunity to reorient, to take a breath, to be nourished in mind and in spirit, to receive a word of advise, to seek out some wisdom.
Others who have forgotten the secret of prayers, and the silence of churches find themselves dispensing fortunes all in the pursuit of understanding and peace. Why is it that we can rationalize the spending of so much precious resource while ignoring the simplest answer? Have we neglected the simple discipline of prayer to our own detriment?
Counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists might feel threatened by these musings, but then the pharisees and elders of the Temple felt threatened as well by the simple truths once uttered by a holy man who came from Nazareth. Have we learned the most valuable lessons yet, or has our stubbornness forced us to return to school?
The doors to this school are open. A gentle voice invites, persistently ... until we finally respond in trust. The result: we find the answers we have been looking for, we discover the forgiveness we so preciously need and we uncover the secret to true joy, inner peace and the love that sustains us in times of celebration and trial. Oh, and yes, all of this is free.
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