Hope the following can help you in your prayer…..
“Prayer requires trust, nearness, almost a hand-to-hand contact that is symbolic not of a God who is an enemy, an adversary, but a Lord of blessing who always remains mysterious, who seems beyond reach. Therefore the author of the Sacred text uses the symbol of the struggle, which implies a strength of spirit, perseverance, tenacity in obtaining what is desired. And if the object of one’s desire is a relationship with God, his blessing and love, then the struggle cannot fail but ends in that self-giving to God, in recognition of one’s own weakness, which is overcome only by giving oneself
over into God’s merciful hands.” May 25, 2011
About Fr. Charles Sikorsky, LC
President, Institute for the Psychological Sciences
www.ipsciences.edu
Fr. Charles came to the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in 2007, after finishing his Licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. His thesis focused on various issues relating to the legal compatibility of the observance of Canon Law and Ex Corde Ecclesiae by Catholic universities in the United States of America. He also has degrees in philosophy and theology from the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Atheneum.
A native of Baltimore, MD, Fr. Charles graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he founded Law Students for Life. He received a B.A. in political economy from The Johns Hopkins University where he also played college basketball. He is a graduate of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, MD, where he played on the 1981-82 National Championship high school basketball team.
He practiced law for two years before joining the Legionaries of Christ in 1992. He did a four year apostolic internship in South America, working in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. He also spent nine years in Rome for study and ministry. He was ordained a priest in 2002.
The Institute for the Psychological Sciences is a Catholic graduate school of Psychology in Arlington, VA, offering Master’s and Doctoral degrees in psychology. The mission of the Institute is to harmonize the science of psychology with the Christian vision of the person and his or her dignity. Its programs enable graduates to grasp all the complexities of the human person, including the transcendent, spiritual and moral dimensions, so that they can help their patients to flourish as individuals created and loved by God.
Father,
Are you saying that if reaching to God is difficult, that’s because of our nature not His? and that we thus have to fight against ourselves to get closer to God? In my case, that would make sense. Thanks
Father Charles replies: Yes, Francois, I think that is a clear inference we can draw from the Pope’s words. Although our baptism gives us the dignity of being children of God, we find ourselves still subject to the consequences of original sin. That wound, what the Church has always referred to as concupiscence, is with us here on earth. So each day we experience a certain “tug of war” inside of us between the good we feel called toward and our tendency to be attracted to selfishness, excessive comforts, etc. But don’t feel bad, we’re all in good company! No less than St. Paul frequently acknowledges this constant struggle and we can take much consolation and gain courage from many of his writings.
Thanks Father and I agree with youn on St. Paul: he is my hero.