The Jesus prayer is rooted in deep scripture as a prayer to help one see God’s will and call out His mercy.
Two blind men followed Jesus as they cried aloud to Jesus to have mercy on them.
“And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed [him], crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us! When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him.” – Matt 9:27-28
We might not be physically blind, but most of us are spiritually blind. We don’t know where we are going, nor can we see God’s will for us.
As the blind men couldn’t physically see, they knew to follow Jesus. That set them on the right course. Once they follow Jesus, they were able to see.
You and I need first to follow Jesus as a physical act so that we can spiritually see.
How? By calling out to him saying his holy name – the name of Jesus.
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47; Luke 18:38; cf Matt 20:30–31), “God, be merciful to me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13) and “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13).
These passages once again show us how Jesus Prayer was developed on scriptural roots and has been with us since the beginning of Christianity.
There is power in offering prayers that are brief yet often to enhance our personal relationship with Christ.
Many saints have recommended that we repeat simple prayers constantly, for this simple act reminds us of His divine presence with us and helps us to pray unceasingly as St. Paul instructs in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
As Catholic mothers, we are constantly being pulled in a thousand little ways that make it easier for us not to be in remembrance of God in our minds.
We might not have the time to sit quietly for more than 20 minutes to meditate nor able to head to adoration alone.
We are living out our vocation with the chaos all around us.
However, by Little Ways, we find holiness right among our vocation, and a short and simple prayer where we can call upon at any time for any need is a powerful resource to use as Catholic mothers.
Soon, this prayer will be constant as our thoughts and unceasing.
This powerful resource can really be used with any short prayers as the Jesus Prayer is not the only way.
As we strive to live out this movement of #holinessthroughwellness, we must understand that wellness is for body, mind, and soul.
As we seek wellness of the mind, a benefit of the practice of the Jesus Prayer is that this prayer enters into our unconsciousness, and we start to see it behind the chaos of our vocation.
It becomes one within our breathing and beating of our hearts. Again it is a way to live out this call of holiness within our vocation.
I invite you to join the members from the Fiat Wellness Center in a Free 5 minutes retreat starting on January 18th for 6 days as we bring this act of prayer into our vocation.
This retreat will take place live on zoom and Facebook at 6am central time, however, it will be recorded and share via email everyday.
We will use scripture readings and give simple ways to implement the Jesus Prayer as apart of your everyday living.
With the Love of Christ,
Maria Cecilia
