The tyranny of the clock

We were discussing contemplative prayer in an OCDS meeting in which I was present recently, and a member of the community remarked on the difficulty of ‘time-watching’ in periods of silent prayer.  One of the hardest things in such prayer can be to forget time completely and lose oneself in God.  I was reminded of this when looking at the life of Blessed Tommaso Riccardi OSB (1844-1915), an Italian Benedictine monk whose feast day is today.  According to Cardinal Alfredo Schuster, who knew him very well, Blessed Tommaso regretted not being able to devote more than four days a week to mental prayer.  This sharpens my awareness of how very different people are.  At the one extreme you have people who ‘always have to be doing something’, at the other extreme, people who are drawn so deeply into prayer.  I do marvel at the latter: I am very far from being a person who ‘always has to be doing something’, but many times in set periods of silent prayer I am guilty of an unhealthy awareness of my watch.  I think it is a blessed thing and a huge grace in prayer to be able to forget about time for just a while and lose yourself in God.       

Intercessions:

Brian Davis - cancer

Marie, Bernard (and wife Angela),

Agnes – in a hospice

Siena, Elara – sick children

Rosemarie – seriously ill

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David - housebound

Sophia – blind infant