APOSTOLIC PRAYER
by
Sister Gail Lambert, MSBT


The missionary Cenacle spirit is first of all a spirit of prayer,
doing all things for God's honor and glory.  Fr. Judge



We are summoned by events of our times!  We entered into World War III on the evening of March 19, 2003 and we are called into the depth of God to intercede on behalf of our world to pray for peace, unity and charity among us.  As we grow in faith and deepen in prayer, we're not called out of the world to be with God, but to be more profoundly immersed in the heart of the world. Prayer draws us into the mission and ministry of Jesus.

Through prayer we hear God's direction and rhythm.  In prayer we meet the Lord face to face and are able to accept the truth of our situation and wait on the Lord's revelation.  Prayer is our loving response to the God who loves us just the way we are.  Prayer is a decision to cast one's gaze towards God and leads to preaching the Gospel with our lives.

Prayer brings us directly into contact with our Triune God.  We are called to embrace a living faith that draws us into union with Jesus who brings us to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Living a life of faith is not a private, individual matter.  We're called to be in relationship with a community of faith.  Life in the spirit is essentially life in community.  God shows us the fullness of divine love in community. 
"The Eternal Community" is the Trinity.   The Community of the Trinity is simply the community of love; God the Father loving the son and this love bringing forth the Holy Spirit.  In order to form community, we must make contact with the Trinity first. (1)

The apostolic call is nurtured and steeped in prayer.  Being called as missionary is a call to apostolic spirituality rooted in Contemplation.  We must be contemplatives in action.  Union with Jesus is essential.  The apostolic life is demanding.  It calls us to be flexible, mobile, finding and being with God in the daily-ness of life.  The life of a missionary calls us to have unity of mind and heart beyond mere physical presence.

Apostolic Spirituality is a special quality of affective presence in our world that is decisive for the kingdom.  It is a presence springing from a special quality of the heart.  Apostolic Contemplation in action is?a heart awareness of God. (2)

This heart awareness of God (forming the heart of the missionary) comes through prayer and helps to bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality.  The tension and anxieties of our times bring us face to face with a spirit of disconnectedness, disillusionment, fear, and violence.  The credibility of the Gospel is at stake!

We're called to be compassion of God in the world by listening, being receptive, silent, still, waiting for the revelation of God in our midst.  We must enter into the world today seeing the pain, hurt, and war-torn anguish and then be willing to struggle to find a way to alleviate it.  Prayer provides the grace energy to do this.

Prayer invites us to be still and know that God is God.  Prayer invites us to be open to the present moment and to cast one's gaze toward God.  Prayer provides the capacity to see with the eyes of faith?to see the ordinary thru God's eyes.

Prayer not only in invitation, but is response.  Prayer is my loving response to the God who loves me just the way I am.  It is my "yes", my "fiat."

Contemplation in the life of a missionary is crucial for us as the Missionary Cenacle Family if that fire He came to cast on the earth be realized and enkindled in us (Lk 12:49).  We are called to be men and women of prayer to make the connection of living faith and loving action in our world.

"The missionary Cenacle makes you a light in dark places; makes you the strength of the weak; a tree under which the poor and the oppressed and the hearts that are tormented may receive refreshment." (Fr. Judge)

1.  De Huek Doherty, Catherine, The Gospel Without Compromise.
2.  Hassell, Daniel J., Radical Prayer.

Reflection Question
How does your life of apostolic prayer enable you to be a sacrament of love, peace, presence in our world?
How does Apostolic Prayer enable you to be more decisive for the Kingdom?
Does your proposed course of action enhance or betray who you are before the Lord?
When you pray, how do you pray?
Where and when do you pray best?