Louisville Process Theology Network

Franciscan Prayer I

Nov 03, 2008

Rabbi Harold Kushner believes that the most meaningful prayer is one that seeks inner strength and clarity of vision. This kind of prayer gets us in touch with God and God?’s purpose and also with the people around us, with whom we hope to accomplish God?’s purpose.

As the famous Talmudic prayer reminds us, ?“We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end starvation, for you have already given us the resources with which to feed the entire world.?”

You probably remember Rabbi Kushner as the author of ?“Why Bad Things Happen to Good People?” and a number of other well received books. See our posting about ?“How Prayers Are Answered?” on 08-30-05.

We also see this age-old idea of prayer reflected in ?“Franciscan Prayer?” by Ilia Delio, OSF, who is a Franciscan Sister, college professor, and author of recent books on theology and prayer.

For example, page 55. ?“Prayer is about God and our relationship to God. The important questions we ask or the conclusion we draw about prayer center on the ?‘God question?’ what we say about God or how we understand God?’s relation to human existence. The God to whom we pray is the God who gives direction to our lives.

Page 62. The Franciscan path to God is an inversion of monastic values. Rather than fleeing the world to find God, God is found in the world. The idea that ?‘the world is our cloister?’ finds its root in Francis.

Page 65. For Francis, God loves us where we are with our frailty, weaknesses, and insecurities. This is the meaning of his encounter with God at San Damiano. He understands that while God is incomprehensible and ineffable he is at the same time ?‘bent over?’ in love with us, in and through the Son. God is infinite in love and intimate in love; far beyond us and intensely close to us. By following in the footprints of Jesus Christ, we are led to the Father of incomprehensible love through the Spirit?…

To be continued.