Fulton J. Sheen was once asked how much time he spends in personal prayer every morning.
“An hour,” he responded, beaming.
“But what if your schedule is already packed?”
The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, personifies that attitude. Though he carries the weight of the Church on his shoulders, the Pontiff lets nothing get between him and prayer, like a linebacker going after the running-back on fourth-and-inches, but with less padding. If there are no papal messages to comment on during these days of our Holy Father’s spiritual exercises, it’s not because he isn’t speaking – on the contrary, he is speaking more than he usually does, in intense dialogue with our Lord.
He feels an overpowering desire to interact with God, much like I saw in Carlo, a 22-year-old atheist and avid literature student who asked me for a ride from the airport on Wednesday morning (my first-ever hitchhiker!). Though Carlo made no secret of his Nietschean outlook on life – a doomed nihilistic materialism that we need to enjoy as much as we can while we still have time – he is enthusiastic about religion and particularly about man’s desire for the Absolute, which I suspect is his own yearning.
When I asked him whether he believes that man is naturally religious, he nodded vigorously. He also lamented the poor example of many of his friends, who call themselves Catholic but never seem to find time for Mass. In a way, he was right; he is more authentic in his materialism than many are in their faith. I agreed that many Christians use their busy schedule as an excuse to put God in second place; at the same time, it is a poor excuse, given that it’s not too hard to set aside at least one hour, out of the 168 hours available every single week, for what’s really important. After all, if the average American spends over four hours a day watching television, and fully 98% watch at least some television, maybe our schedule is not quite as busy as we think. If the Pope can find time, certainly we can, too. If we need to breathe, or to eat, or to change the baby, or to go shopping, we will do what it takes; if we truly feel the need to pray, we will make it work.
During a tense period of the Cold War, one of the Pope’s secretaries tried to interrupt Pope John Paul II as he was praying the rosary: “Holy Father, President Reagan is on the line requesting your mediation.” The Pope held out his rosary and replied, “Tell him that I’m already taking care of it.”
Thank God Pope Benedict is taking care of us this week.
By Colin Gore
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