Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Sweet Cacophony

Have you ever gone to the church a bit early for Mass and been privileged to join the steadfast retirees that are there, daily, praying the Rosary? I have been there on quite a few occasions and it is a peaceful, prayerful way to begin the day. Usually I sit toward the back of the church and stay in time with the person sitting closest to me with the loudest voice.

One morning I ventured to the front of the church for a change of pace. This vastly changed my perception of the Rosary. When one sits in the front, the sounds of more voices drift forward. Not only is it slightly more difficult to pick a single voice to follow, one notices that not everyone is following the same person. It is more like a Rosary in round, with each prayer starting at a slightly different time and the Amens coming in scattered at the end.

This revelation led me to think of how God must hear our prayers in Heaven. In my parish, there are about 40 people that gather for the Rosary. In other parishes, the numbers vary from a few to up to 100. So, on an average morning, just in the Eastern Time zone there are many thousands of people praying just the Rosary at certain hours of the morning.

Now, pause to consider all those who are not in church but are praying none the less: hospital patients, parents and children, soldiers on a battlefield, a homeless person. All these prayers reach the being of our Heavenly Father and He is able to discern each individual, each word, each plea, each groan, each praise.

How do our prayers sound in heaven? I have to imagine they are like music. Different tones, paces, passions, fervencies make up our prayers. Like a symphony, our prayers reach to God and become a sweet cacophony of sound. God loves our prayers, whether we are happy or sad, angry or frightened, peaceful or in turmoil. Hence the proclamation: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” (Psalm 98:4)

No comments:

Post a Comment