Paradoxes and Prayer

To enter deep into the mystery of prayer opens the heart to certain paradoxes. A humble cry of the heart knows blessings disguised in difficult poverty, meekness, sorrow, hunger, thirst, and persecution.  When such prayer is pure, merciful, and persevering under trial - it actually tastes the things of heaven. The extent of such prayer reaches from the joy of the lowly who are exalted to the sorrow of the mighty who are cast down.  A heart pierced with the love that this prayer knows can be amazed over the hungry who are filled with good things, and the well fed who are sent away hungry. This searching for the eyes of the One who looks on us with love renders us vulnerable to the tragedy of the rich young men who go away sad, and the sheer grace that other men such as Zaccheaus should rejoice to have Christ enter their homes.  This attending carefully to the Word of the Father discovers with holy fear how teachers of the faith and religious authorities are silenced, while the speech of the mute and simple laid open and made bold.  In the humble lifting of one's hands in faith we can wonder over how the prayer of the sinner is heard, and the prayer of the self-assured is rejected.  Bathed in such wonders, we are bowed in adoration and lifted on high with praise.