ABSOLUTE SELF-GIVING
Prayers of aspiration are brief forms of prayer with which, since ancient times, believers have directed themselves to God in different circumstances. Many have benefitted from the suggestions of the well-known book The Way of a Pilgrim. For his part, Fr Claret considered prayers of aspiration as ‘the breaths of the soul who loves God’ (cf. EE p.89). This signifies the brevity, frequency and intensity of a moment, with a variety of desires, attitudes or feelings with which we can raise the heart to the Lord, whether from what we are living or the needs of our neighbour.
They have always been considered a form of sanctifying our day, offering the tasks we undertake, or the difficulties we encounter, to the Lord. Claret sought that this offering would unite him to Jesus in the Eucharistic sacrifice and frequently made use of the many little prayers we find in the Gospels. They are two forms, through sacrament and word, of reiterating our prayerful communion with Jesus our Lord.
Currently, with the abundance of information which we receive in real time, we can collect everything in a brief elevation of thanksgiving or supplication which spills out over the reality of our world: thus we will live, from our smallness, in ecumenical and missionary communion with all humanity in its joys, hopes and sorrows, keeping alive our love for this world which ‘God so loved’. In this way, our prayer being a dialogue with God, we will incorporate in this communication the groan of all creation of which St Paul spoke (cf. Rm 8:22).
Maybe the hustle and bustle of your daily activities mean your interior life is dispersed. Have you thought that, in this context, your brief supplication or praise could help to enrich your intimate unity with God and give a new quality to your relationship with your surroundings?
