LET US PRAY
reflect | pray | act
By Carol Ann Morrow
Carol Ann Morrow
In the Mojave Desert, the Milky Way galaxy paints the backdrop of a Joshua tree, a plant named by early Mormon settlers after the Old Testament prophet. Lent provides an opportunity for us to prayerfully wander the desert of our spiritual lives.
“L
et me just finish what I’m doing,” my husband says. “I’ll let you,” I say grudgingly, knowing I have little power to stop him in his tracks. In his own good time, he shows up, and I’m by and large grateful, unless I was in a hurry. I’ve often mused on this “let me,” which feels like stalling or stubbornness, despite its lighthearted promise that my husband will indeed saunter my way. And, you might well ask, what does this have to do with prayer? It’s linked by this frequent invitation in Catholic ritual: “Let us pray.” Do those assembled expect actual prayer to follow? Does it? I confess of myself: not always! I have come to the assembly intent on prayer, but I stray, I idle, I dream, I waver, I focus, I fiddle. You may be much better at this, but I’m grateful if prayer has occupied the larger part of my time in a place of worship! Alone in my space for personal prayer, it’s much the same.
LET US DO THE DESERT
On the cusp of Lent, I echo the nursery chant: “Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” My personal
plague is falling down and failing any resolutions I make. When I lamented this to a confessor, he suggested short-term resolutions, a day or a week or some shorter span I might be able to manage. I now realize that managing isn’t the idea at all. I’m not meant to manage Lent, but to slog through, to intend, to hope, and, most of all, to remember. I am remembering that Jesus wandered in a desert, wanting to face up to the mission that lay ahead. He was gathering courage, practicing self-discipline, acquainting himself with loneliness, and facing the devils of distraction, desire, and desolation. Not to put too fine a face on it, but me too. I’ve come to believe that Lent is not about doing. It’s about not doing. It’s not about trying, but letting ourselves take that ramble through the desert. Prayer is the backbone of Lent. I reject Satan, however evil manifests itself in my desert. I affirm my belief that I can make it through, and that prayer is that way. And prayer is not primarily doing; prayer is letting, allowing, even embracing the mysteries.
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46 • February 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
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Prayer: Allowing, Aiding, and Abetting
TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: JOEBELANGER/FOTOSEARCH
Carol Ann Morrow is an associate of the Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg, Indiana. She is also a wife, sometimes a mother to two grown stepchildren, and always a grandmother of four. She was on the staff of St. Anthony Messenger for 25 years and is the author of A Retreat with Saint Anthony: Finding Our Way (Franciscan Media).
