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HONG KONG
FROM THE HEART
    “The Prayer of the Heart”

    My ordinary day, and perhaps yours, too, is often a confusion of
    impressions, demands on time, thoughts and various duties. Thus there is
    the constant danger of losing hold of what is the real unity of our
    existence.  Like the people Jesus spoke to, like the people of any age or
    time, we can often live far from ourselves and far from God.  And as our
    days become more crowded, and the hours more filled, it is hard to recall
    -- as indeed we must -- that we have a God we can approach in prayer.

    The words we use are not so important in themselves, but rather for the
    attitude and spirit that they convey regarding the true nature of prayer and
    our relationship with God.

    According to Jesus, the important thing about praying is not so much the
    words, but the fact that we keep at it, not, one assumes, because God is
    forgetful of what we have said, but because we ourselves often forget.  
    Sometimes our prayer life is a spirit of both talking to God and talking to
    ourselves.  Talking to ourselves about our lives, about what we've done
    and what we failed to do, about who we are and who we wish we were,
    who the people we love are, and the people we don't love, too.  Talking to
    ourselves about what matters most to us, because if we don't, we may
    forget what matters most to us.

    But in the midst of all this talking, we must believe someone is listening,
    and will always listen.  Even when God seems far away, when the world
    seems such a mess, and those in need go wanting, yes even then we go
    on believing.  We believe that the God who listens lives in our hearts in the
    Spirit of Jesus.  In meditation we, in a sense, beat a path to God’s door.  
    And we are assured by Jesus that the path we beat with our sometimes
    tired meditation will bring us, in our hearts, to the heart of God. That is the
    great mystery St. Paul speaks of: the mystery of God in us.  And that is the
    secret heart of all our praying and meditation, to meet Jesus, the Teacher
    within.

    Fr. Sean P. Burke
    Spiritual Advisor WCCM (HK)
    July 2007