Benedict J. Groeschel - Praying to Our Lord Jesus Christ: Twenty Centuries of Prayer to the Lord

FR. BENEDICT J. GROESCHEL, C.F.R.

Prayers and Meditations through the Centuries

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Every effort has been made to secure permission from the various holders of copyright for materials used in this book. In cases where it lias been impossible to locate copyright holders, they are asked to contact the author so that corrections may be made in future editions of this work.

Cover art:
Detail of Christ from the Deesis
(Christ, Mary, and John the Baptist),
from the north gallery.
Byzantine mosaic, 12th century.
Hagia Sophia / Istanbul, Turkey
Erich Lessing / Art Resource, New York

Cover design by Roxanne Mei Lum

2004 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 4-58617-041-4
Library of Congress Control Number 2004100127
Printed in the United States of America

To Jesus of Nazareth,
our Brother,
our Messiah,
our Savior,
our Redeemer,
our Eternal King

CONTENTS

A WORD OF THANKS

This book was written under rather difficult circumstances. I had been hospitalized for some months as a result of a severe automobile accident in January 2004. I did, however, want to bring out a small book of prayers to Christ in order to encourage every Catholic, every Christian, to pray devoutly and fervently every day to Christ as our brother, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our divine Lord and Master. The Passion of the Christ , a recent film, had a profound effect on many people and reminded all of us of what Christ did in giving His life for us. It preached loudly the words of Scripture, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (Jn 3:16).

I wish to thank all who have helped me with this book: my staff and colleagues at Trinity Retreat and James Monti, who provided valuable research. I am also deeply grateful to Ignatius Press for seeing the book to publication so quickly, thereby facilitating its wide circulation among the faithful.

Let us pray to Christ every day, let us pray for each other and for the world. He, the Son of God, stands at the center of the world in the mystery of His birth, His holy life, His terrible death, and His glorious Resurrection and Ascension. These are the beginning mysteries of the Paschal Mystery, in which you and I hope to participate for all eternity.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever! Amen.

INTRODUCTION

If we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Lord and Savior who has called us back from eternal death and given us the promise of eternal life, and if we believe drat He died for our sins on the Cross, then nothing is more obvious than that we should pray to Him. Prayers to Jesus have been characteristic of Christian people since the earliest days. This little prayer book is meant for those who would like to pray to Jesus and to develop their own prayer to Him, which in some ways is the most effective.

The Christian is a devoted persondevoted to God, to our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the angels and saints. Our devotion grows as we increase in our realization that our God is a personal God, whose love for us is infinite. He has wondrously created us and even more wondrously redeemed us, as Saint Leo put it. He has taken great care in our creation and, in the divine Person of Christ, has suffered great pain in our redemption. Christ is the incarnate revelation of the Fathers love for us. It is impossible that our God could be indifferent to us at any stage of our existence. We are enfolded in his love, as Julian of Norwich said, and our heavenly Father rewards even the smallest of good deeds done in secret (Mt 6:3).

The essential element of devotion is trust, and our Lord bids us, in the Sermon on the Mount, to have trust above all in our heavenly Father, whose loving Providence extends even to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Are you not of more value than they? He asks (Mt 6:26).

Cardinal Newman has a fitting description of devotion that is helpful to call often to mind, illustrating both the importance of devotion in our Christian life and the spring from which it flows.

God beholds thee individually, whoever thou art. He calls thee by thy name. He sees thee, and understands thee, as He made thee. He knows what is in thee, all thy own peculiar feelings and thoughts, thy dispositions and likings, thy strength and thy weakness. He views thee in thy day of rejoicing, and thy day of sorrow. He sympathizes in thy hopes and thy temptations. He interests Himself in all thy anxieties and remembrances, all the risings and fallings of thy spirit. He has numbered the very hairs of thy head and the cubits of thy stature. He compasses thee round and bears thee in His arms; He takes thee up and sets thee down. He notes thy very countenance, whether smiling or in tears, whether healthful or sickly. He looks tenderly upon thy hands and thy feet; He hears thy voice, the beating of thy heart, and thy very breathing. Thou dost not love thyself better than He loves thee. Thou canst not shrink from pain more than He dislikes thy bearing it; and if He puts it on thee, it is as thou wilt put it on thyself, if thou art wise, for a greater good afterwards.

Prayer is the lifting of the heart and mind to God; therefore, it is also the lifting of the heart and mind to Jesus Christ, as He is now in eternal glory. We can pray to Him as we recall the past events of His life. When the film The Passion of the Christ was being shown, friends of mine attended a late evening performance. Seated next to them were some young African American fellows dressed in the colorful way of teenagers today. All during the film they spoke out loud to Jesus; it was very impressive. You tell them, Jesus; O Jesus, dont let them do that to you. They knew how to speak to Jesus Christ, even though, from their appearance, they did not seem to be particularly religious young men. They had learned this way of speaking at home and in their humble Gospel church. It was very moving to the people around them.

At this time in the Church it seems to me that we need to bring back devotion, especially devotion to Jesus Christ. I have written a larger book, which will be published soon, on the history of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox devotion to Jesus Christ. I had intended to publish this present book of prayers after that book was finished, but because of recent injuries I decided to do this book first and make it available before the larger book comes out.

The First Prayer to Jesus

The first prayer recorded in Sacred Scripture that is addressed to Jesus Christ ascended to the heavenly Father is said by Saint Stephen, a young man about to be stoned for his loyalty to Christ. An analysis of that event proves helpful, because Stephen is aware of Christs presence. He sees Him standing in the heavens. Stephen is doing what Christ has asked him to do, namely, forgiving his enemies, which to the people of the time must have seemed like an odd demand. Finally, as he is dying, he trusts himself completely to Jesus. This is a powerful example of true Christian devotion. The text, which is repeated here, is worth looking at in the light of what we are saying.

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Sou of man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them And when he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:55-60).Next page