A Family’s Journey Back to Union: Reflections on One Family’s Celebration of Faith in God and One Another

By Mark Danis

This is the story of one extended family’s journey back through the lost years and distant miles to rediscover their union with one another. It is the story of four generations who came together to respond to each other’s trials and tragedies, and to celebrate their victories and blessings. So many forces today are imposing themselves and tearing families apart; this is the story of one family’s response to that reality. It is about their resilience and reliance on prayer, God and one another. You will be blessed by reading the brief stories of what brought them back together and how they maintain their connection to each other. But the real blessing will be found in the spiritual reflections and material for prayer and meditation that have served to grow and keep this community of family and friends together for over a decade.Readers are encouraged to use the reflections in their own prayer life and to share them. But more importantly, we hope readers will make the effort to establish communities of prayer among their own families and friends. We promise if you do, you will experience God’s healing power and His blessings in ways you could never have imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973688358

Mark Danis

Mark Danis is the Director of Evangelization for the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Dayton, Ohio. He is a member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites and is the Co-host of the Radio Program and Podcast entitled Carmelite Conversations, focusing on the contemplative life. He leads spiritual retreats nationally and has written extensively on the topics of prayer and the spiritual life. Mark holds a master’s degree in Theology and is currently in Diaconate formation in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

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1

Purifying Our Hearts

E ffective prayer always requires preparation. Some of the most important preparation required is making sure our hearts are clear of anything that might impede the quality of our prayer.

The Psalms provide us some of the best scriptural advice we can find on how to both prepare for and offer effective prayers. They also have a way of getting to the heart of the matter rather quickly. A good example of this can be found in Psalm 4. This particular Psalm contains a line that can be seen as a very brief but also very appropriate description of the very act of prayer.

Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Selah. (Psalm 4:4)

This one verse from the 4th Psalm really does sum up the whole process of prayer in one line. The reader is told to ‘tremble’ which, in this context, is nothing more than the familiar theme of ‘Fear of the Lord.’ More on that in a moment.

Next, the reader is told not to sin. Certainly, there is nothing surprising in that direction from scripture. We are told throughout both the Old and the New Testaments about the wages of sin and its potentially catastrophic consequences. We also know that it is inevitable that we will occasionally fall victim to our own human weakness. But we should never be led to despair.

The most significant part from the Psalm above is the second half of the verse, the one that offers a deeper insight into the act of prayer. The author, who was King David, is saying that the essence of true prayer is to be found within the human heart.

What David is saying is that we must enter into and examine our own hearts. In order to do this, the best position we can adopt is to ‘lie on our beds,’ by which he simply means that we are to calm ourselves. And then we must seek to maintain a high degree of silence and stillness. This silence and stillness should be both exterior and interior. We should bring ourselves to a state of full awareness that God is within us. He is always with us. In truth, all prayer is really nothing more than an increasing awareness of God’s presence.

But then, what is it that David is suggesting we meditate on? And why does David begin this line with the word ‘tremble?’ Well, as we all know, David had made his own share of mistakes in his life. Despite being specifically chosen by God to lead His people, David not only committed adultery, but also arranged the death of the woman’s (Bathsheba’s) husband, Uriah. Uriah was a man who was a faithful soldier of the King. It would be reasonable to assume that David would have good reason to ‘Fear the Lord’s reaction to all this. (I said we would get back to that). But rather than attempt to gloss over his own failure, David seeks to acknowledge his mistake and allow God to cleanse him.

The Fourth Psalm is offering challenging instruction to look deep within our own hearts and discern whether there is anything within us that may cause us to ‘tremble’ before God. We do not like to be reminded that God’s standard is much more challenging than just not performing sinful acts. Remember, all of David’s problems began, not when he took Bathsheba to his bed, but when he began to desire her in his heart.

Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. (2 Samuel 11:2)

The very next scripture verse says, ‘David inquired about the woman.’ And, as we now know, that is where all David’s trouble started. A desire lodged itself in David’s heart, and he was already moving down the path to his fall. This was no small matter, but it began innocently enough with the thought of a desire entering David’s heart. This is why David tells everyone who is willing to listen, Meditate in your heart. (Psalm 4:4 NASB) See if there is anything there that might lead to a fall.

Now many would argue that simply holding a desire in our hearts is not much cause for concern, at least not as it relates to our ability to pray effectively. But the Lord’s own words on the matter would seem to take issue with that argument.

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)

Beyond that, when Christ offered us the most important character traits necessary to make us a Holy People, the Beatitudes, He did not say, Blessed are the pure in act. He specifically said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

This idea of being accountable for what we hold in our hearts is not a very popular idea these days. Today, there is a far greater acceptance of activities that only a few years ago we would have considered unthinkable. There is no need to identify these activities. We only need to look at our televisions or movie screens to see them or hear them. But, the challenge is whether we are willing to enter into ourselves and ask the Lord to genuinely reveal to us any aspects of our character, or desires residing deep within our hearts, that He might find unacceptable. It takes great courage to be willing to pray:

Create a pure heart in me, O God. (Psalm 51:10 International Standard Version ISV)

There is one other word in this line from the 4th Psalm that is worth looking at, and it is the very last word. It is the word, ‘Selah.’ This Hebrew word ‘Selah’ appears throughout the Book of Psalms. Its precise meaning is mysterious, but it is interpreted as a pause to breathe and reflect on the important words just uttered. It encourages the reader or the singer of the Psalm to stop a moment and allow the lesson that has just been communicated to enter into the heart.

With this in mind, it might be very beneficial to our prayer life if we too adopt this instruction after we pray a particularly powerful prayer, like the 4th Psalm. Or perhaps, even a prayer like the one below that was often prayed by St. Augustine of Hippo. The first line in this prayer might be enough to cause us to pause for quite some time. ‘Let me know myself God and know You.’ If our prayer is to be truly beneficial, we need to understand what it might be that God wants to reveal to us about ourselves. This is most especially true as it relates to what we increasingly will come to understand about God and His Holiness, as well as what we know to be His desire that we too be a Holy People.

Here is St. Augustine’s complete prayer.

Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You,

And desire nothing save only You.

Let me hate myself (this refers to our sinful nature) and love You.

Let me do everything for the sake of You.

Let me humble myself and exalt You.

Let me think of nothing except You.

Let me die to myself and live in You.

Let me accept whatever happens as from You.

Let me banish self and follow You,

And ever desire to follow You.

Let me fly from myself and take refuge in You,

That I may deserve to be defended by You.

Let me fear for myself, let me fear You,

And let me be among those who are chosen by You.

Let me distrust myself and put my trust in You.

Let me be willing to obey for the sake of You.

Let me cling to nothing save only to You,

And let me be poor because of You.

Look upon me, that I may love You.

Call me that I may see You,

And forever enjoy You.¹

‘Selah’

Amen.

By the way, in case any of us think this was a prayer that just rolled off St. Augustine’s tongue without any problem, we should know the fuller story. After his conversion from his former pagan ideas, St. Augustine continued for some time to live with a woman who was not his wife. He is known to have uttered a prayer some years before writing this one. That prayer went like this: Lord, make me chaste, but not yet. It is clear that becoming a Holy People is never an easy task.

This week let us pray that we all increase the desire to have God purify our hearts.

2

A Broken and Contrite Heart Oh God

R ecently, I was reminded of a wonderful movie of faith, courage and redemption. It was the story from the book Unbroken , ² which is about the life of Louie Zamperini, an American who ran the 5000 meter in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Author, Hillenbrand L. Unbroken 2010 Random House Inc. New York

Louie was later drafted as a gunner aboard B-24 Bombers during WWII. He was shot down in the Pacific and endured two long years of captivity at the hands of the Japanese, one of whom seemed to take special pleasure in beating Zamperini because of Louis’s former status as an Olympian. This Japanese soldier, named Mutsuhiro Wantanabe, wanted to try and break Zamperini. He tried very hard to convince the once great runner that he was in fact nothing and of no value to anyone in the world. Ever been there yourself? It is in such dark places that Satan likes to convince us of our uselessness.

It is well worth reading the book, Unbroken, or even seeing the movie of the same title. What all of us might find particularly compelling is Louis Zamperini’s promise to God, one he offered while he was floating on a tiny raft in the Pacific Ocean after being shot down, but before he was picked up by the Japanese. He promised God that if He would get him out of this and allow him to live, Louis would dedicate the rest of his life to serving God. He did not know then what would be required of him to be able to even begin his work in God’s service.

After his ordeal in the War and his difficult return to his life back in the States, large cracks began to form in Louis’s life and in his relationships with other human beings. Battling both alcohol and PTSD, Louis soon forgot his promise, but God did not.

After nearly coming to ruin and divorce in his marriage, Louis’s wife, Cynthia Applewhite, convinced him to attend a Billy Graham Crusade. He went back a number of times, and eventually gave his life over to Christ. Later, Louis began his own career as a Christian evangelist, preaching continually on the theme of forgiveness. With the help of his new-found grace, Louis healed his own brokenness by forgiving his captors, even the most evil of them. This is perhaps more detail on this story then you need, but I do encourage everyone to read or view this amazing story of redemption.

The real focus of the story, however, is not so much Louis Zamperini’s apparent external strength, much of which, as in any of us, can be largely genetic. Or such strength can simply develop as a consequence of our continued response to difficult circumstances. That was certainly true of Louis during his running career and his experiences during the War.

However, the challenges he faced after the War were not ones he could just tough out. Those interior challenges, demons, if you will, required an inner strength that we humans do not possess on our own; it is a gift from God. And it is an interior gift we cannot do