Meditation for December 20, Preparation for Prayer

The Magi discovered the star and began their journey at once.

But their promptness did not imply unpreparedness. They realized that they were to see a king, and therefore it was su­premely fitting that they array themselves in their best for this sacred interview. They likewise selected with reverent circumspection the gifts to be offered as a token of homage to Jesus.

Do I have similar dispositions when I prepare myself for prayer? Do I say, "The moment of the sacred interview is near. I shall be permitted to contemplate my Savior, to speak to the King, to have an audience with God, the Most High. How shall I make a becoming preparation?" Or do I go to prayer as I go to any other exercise, to the refectory, or to recreation?

If I were living a truly recollected life, I should be ready at any moment for an audience with the King. I am acting under a delusion if I make such a distinction between my thoughts during prayer and my other thoughts throughout the day. I should be so united to God at all times that I could pass without effort into explicit and formal prayer.

Alas! It is not thus in practice. Habitual union with God has scarcely made a beginning in my soul. There is a decided break between my ordinary life and my life of prayer.

I will strive to minimize the difference between my recollection during prayer and during the rest of the day, endeavoring to make my recollection at prayer as intense as possible, and my prepara­tion for prayer as fervent and loyal as possible.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)