The Jesus Prayer

"Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
This is perhaps one of the simplest prayers to say. It can be said many, many times a day, anywhere, anytime. When I ponder each word, I find it has great meaning.
First, we are addressing Jesus, the central figure of the Christian religion. To all Christians, we are speaking to our Savior; the one who gave His life for our salvation; the one who by His incarnation, became human - the god-man. He is the second person of the Trinity. Christ was to be the fulfillment of the prophesies of the Old Testament. He was everything the Jews were waiting for - the awaited Savior, the Messiah, the One to Come. He was the one whom all greatly anticipated. He is the one to whom we are addressing this short, but, powerful prayer. We speak to Him as Son. He is Son of the Heavenly Father. He reminded us that if we know Him, then we know the Father because He and the Father are one. There is no closer relationship than the bond between the Father and the Son, yet we are a part of this holy relationship because we are children of the Father by adoption. We can call Him "Abba." And Jesus is thus our brother. It is a familial, covenantal bond.

Truly He is a Living God because He is, was and ever shall be, according to promises given to us by Jesus Himself. He left us able to receive Him daily in the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, as well as through the Word we receive through the Scriptures. In addition, His Spirit is with us for all times, ready to be at our beck and call to aid us in our journeys. All we need do is ask and He will pour His graces and blessings upon us. For He is our advocate, our paraclete. Jesus promised that great things would happen through the power of the Spirit. He is here with us always, our friend, our mentor.

Next I ask for Jesus' mercy. Mercy is compassion, love, kindness, forgiveness, clemency, tenderness. All of these things are simply adjectives that describe Jesus. In my humility, I realize that no matter the extent of my sinfulness, Jesus will always be there to reach out in loving kindness and tenderness and welcome me, like the prodigal son, home again, into His loving embrace. There is nothing He wants more than to forgive and to love. From the time of the stubborn Israelites in the book of Exodus, until today, man's story is one of turning away from God. This is my story as well. Yet God's response is always and forever a story of unconditional love and forgiveness.

I am the sinner. I do not deserve to lift my eyes and place them on the face of my Savior. A sinner is one who turns his back on God; one who chooses other than God. Yet, when I admit my true place and seek His mercy with true sorrow and contrition, I know in my heart that my loving God will hear my prayer and will again forgive me and love me because He always has. I thank You, Jesus, for the sweet and beautiful Savior that You are. How is it that I am worthy of Your mercy and love? It is only because You will this for me.

What Makes a Saint?

Today is All Saints' Day. I think of all the saints I know of and try to determine the common characteristics that they share. Certainly, most importantly, they share a love of Jesus in the Eucharist, and many of them have a great devotion to Mother Mary. Some have had private revelations, others have had visions that were later sanctioned by the Church. It seems that all the saints with whom I am familiar, have the virtue of great humility. None of them ever flaunted themselves or the holiness that they had. In fact, all of them preferred to remain unknown or in the background. They did not brag about miracles that occurred around them or chapels they built, or of conversions that occurred as a result of their preaching. That would have been too much like the pharisees in the time of Jesus. And as Jesus said, the pharisees' rewards were already received on earth.

The saints were truly holy individuals who spent their time giving all the glory to God, and God alone. Their focus was on the Almighty One, not themselves. They desired to sacrifice their entire beings for the sake of holiness. I think of St. Rafqa, who lived silently in great pain, in order to share in the suffering of Jesus on the cross. I think of Mother Theresa and Abouna Yaacoub, who tirelessly served the poor, handicapped and downtrodden themselves, never failing to reflect the great love Jesus asked us all to show toward our neighbor.

Always these holy men and women found time for prayer and reflection. It was an imortant part of their daily lives. For without this time in communion with God, they would forfeit the strength and graces they needed to accomplish His daily will for them. Every day they devoted to what God desired them to do; never to their own will. This is what set them apart from the everyday people of the world. And every day they submitted to God's will, even if it meant suffering and pain for them. Each thing they did they did with the true love of the Savior. They only served with love. This was Jesus' way, and thus, their way. This is what makes a saint.