1 3 . Th e P o w e r o f Helpless Prayer
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n October, 1978, ten years after his ordination as a priest in Prague, Fr. Miloslav Vlk was picked up by state authorities and prohibited from exercising any priestly ministry. He was forced to withdraw from association with Church activity and became a window cleaner in downtown Prague. During this time, he was haunted by questions about his vocation and wondered whether he had any priestly identity at all. He could not lead, worship with, console, or instruct his people. He was troubled by discouragement and by doubts about whether in his present status, to all appearances a layman, his priesthood meant anything. Then he had an illumination in which he realized, as he wrote later, that “Jesus arrived at the climax of his priesthood when, nailed to the cross, he could not walk, perform miracles, nor preach, but—abandoned—suffered in silence” (A Lenten Pilgrimage—Journeying with Jesus). Jesus did the most he could for people, achieving salvation and redemption, when he yielded completely to the Father’s will, giving up personal control and power completely. This prayer and offering was his ministry. This realization gave Fr. Vlk a new sense of his priestly identity and service, and it also gave him peace as he continued to wash windows until he was able to return to regular ministry in 1989 at the beginning of what would become the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. All of us have times when we feel helpless to do what we think we should. It may be on the national or international level, as we watch developments that we know can only lead 47