March 7/First Monday of Lent
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. ~ Ps 19.15
What does it mean for “the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart” to “be acceptable” to the Lord? Does the psalmist mean that there is a “right” way to pray? Many of us, whether old hands or newcomers to the life of prayer, are uncertain at times about what to say and how to say it. Should we address God in complex, beautifully structured, and grammatically correct sentences, like those in the Catholic Daily Office or the Anglican Book of Common Prayer? Or is it really permissible to express our raw emotions — anger, despair, doubt? We may feel, particularly if we don’t regularly attend church, that such spontaneous utterances are the wrong kind of prayer. But whether our prayers are rote or raw, as long as they come from the heart, they are acceptable to God. God is not looking for the pretty package, but for the fullness of our expression, from the rejoicing of our souls to the groaning of our hearts (the Hebrew word translated “meditation” in verse 15 can connote a low sound like the moaning of a dove). The American poet John Berryman, as unreliable a believer as ever lived, laid his soul bare in his amazing Eleven Addresses to the Lord, concluding in #11, “Cancer, senility, mania,/I pray I may be ready with my witness.” God wants our full witness of love and pain. We are not judged on form or even content, but on the heart’s stirrings. Giving voice to those is the essence of prayer.
Almighty God, Make me ready to offer you my witness, however imperfect it may be. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030722.cfm
To hear the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sing “Pleasing,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1c3m8mRb8g
