February 08, 2022

1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 

Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved. 

Care about Prayer!

Today we hear the prayer of King Solomon. Unlike our hands, which we often fold when we pray, his are held wide to heaven in a gesture of readiness and surrender that was common in Old Testament tradition. He speaks to God directly, not afraid to ask questions. Solomon displays the kind of personal openness that Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel passage when he quotes Isaiah about people who pray with their lips but whose hearts are far from God.

As we mark the two-year anniversary of the Covid pandemic, how are we doing in our own prayer lives? Could they use a boost? Liturgy of the Hours, lectio divina, meditation, prayer walks and the rosary are all ways I like to pray. But don’t forget that songs can be a part of our daily devotion— and not just sacred hymns! Praying with popular music can be a wonderful way to invite the Lord into your prayer practice. Today’s prayer is a tune I’ve prayed with lately. It brings to mind for me a God who never gives up on me. Adele made the song popular and the lyrics were written by the Nobel Prize-winning American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan. Pray on!

—Joe Kraemer, SJ, is a transitional deacon of the Jesuits West Province completing his final semester of theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. He will be ordained to the priesthood in June 2022. 

Prayer 

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love…

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling down the avenue
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
Though winds of change are throwing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing like me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love
To make you feel my love.

—Lyrics to "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan for his 1997 album Time Out of Mind