Same Prayer but Different

A Reflection on the Second Reading ​for Sunday, November 3rd, 2024:
Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Hebrews
7.23-28

The priests of the first covenant were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself.

For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect  forever.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Sometimes I wonder if the repetition of prayer or liturgies or devotions is necessary. I mean, God is outside of time and space, so does it all pile up on Him or get boring to hear over and over again? 

Thoughts like this are solid proof that I am a sinful human! Not because they are terrible thoughts, but because they express a lack of understanding about the transcendence of God, the love of God, and the immeasurable mercy of God.
 
Everyday, as a religious, I am required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. For those who do not know, this is a series of prayers/psalms/scriptures that are prayed throughout the day, which all priests and religious are required to pray daily. It is a four-week cycle with subsections, and when you begin this prayer for the first time ever, it seems you will never understand the layout and process. But then, one day you realize that not only do you know the process but you have actually memorized bits of it because of the repetition. 

I will admit that there are times I am less focused on the prayers and just sort of “getting it done” (I’m probably the only person who struggles like that…). This daily prayer, along with all the other prayers we all pray throughout the day or week, is repetitive and can feel a bit useless at times. 

The reality is that the prayers we pray and the praise we offer God are not meant to build up God and make Him feel good about himself. These prayers are a source of spiritual food, a breath of wind to refresh our souls! God uses the tiniest prayer that I offer from my heart to draw me closer to Him and to open my heart to receive Him more completely.

Our second reading for this Sunday expresses all this in a beautiful way when it reflects on the priesthood of Jesus as compared to that of the priests who came from the first covenant. They were sinners just like anyone else, and so the sacrifices they offered were limited and imperfect. But Jesus is the perfect priest: “Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him.”
 
We repeat our prayers so that our hearts and our souls may heal from sin, and it is this ongoing healing that prepares us for the salvation Jesus, our great high priest, desires to give each of us. It is a gift that is freely given – but it is never forced, so I must ask and I must permit God to save me. 

One of the things I have come to love about repetitive prayer is that I do not need to come up with new, better, or different ways of calling God, of hearing Him, of experiencing Him. When I open my heart to the Lord, I am renewed in these same prayers, these same words. 

I, like the priests of the Old Testament, repeat the offering for the good of my soul. I am flawed and lacking, but my prayers are there as a healing aid for me. And God, in His goodness, accepts them every time!




Sister Teresa MacDonald

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