MIND AND HEART PRAYER

The third characteristic of the prayer of the heart is that it is all-inclusive, that includes all our concerns. When we enter with our mind into our heart and there stand in the presence of God then all our mental preoccupations become prayer. 

The power of the prayer of the heart is precisely that through it all that is on our mind becomes prayer. When we say to people, ‘I will pray for you’ we make a very important commitment. The sad thing is that this remark often remains no more than a well-meant remark. 

But when we learn to descend with our mind into our heart, then all those who have become part of our lives are led into the healing presence of God, and touched by him in the center of our being. I’m speaking here of a mystery for which words are lacking, but which is no less real. 

It is the mystery that the heart which is the center of our being is transformed by God into his own heart, a heart large enough to embrace the universe and all it contains. Through prayer we can take all human pain and sorrow, all conflict and agony, all torture and war, all hunger, loneliness and misery in our heart. 

Not because of some great psychological or emotional capacity, but because it is God’s heart that has become one with ours. Here we catch a glimpse of the meaning of Jesus’ words, “Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, that I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” 

Jesus invites us to accept his burden and we know that it is the burden of the whole world, that it includes all human suffering in time and place. But this divine burden is a light burden, that we can carry when our heart is transformed in the gentle and humble heart of our Lord.