My favorite prayer is, "Jesus." Just that. When I am at a Mass and the sermon begins to wander, I say, "Jesus, Jesus, O Jesus, dearest Jesus," over and over. Once when I was at a priest's jubilee and at the end they tacked on a ceremony I didn't care for, I just closed my eyes and said over and over, "Jesus, dear Jesus."
When I am in church and feel dry of soul and no words come, I just look at the tabernacle and say, "Jesus, Jesus," again and again; and I find that I am praying.
When I am at a meeting and find it boring--what meeting isn't?--I stop listening to people saying the same thing over and over and I pray, "Jesus, Jesus." And I can tolerate the dullness.
"Jesus, Jesus, dearest Jesus" is the perfect prayer at any time. It cuts away the beat-around-the-bush prayers we sometimes find in our prayerbooks. It gets to the heart of the matter. Jesus is our faith.
Jesus loves us more than words can tell and when we recite His holy and beautiful name we are loving Him.
When theologians and liturgists and Scripture people debate, it all seems trivial to me. Who cares about the little things they argue over.
I just want to be with Jesus, and I want Jesus to be with me. That is what happens when I say, "Jesus, Jesus, dearest Jesus."
This article is taken from Star: A Guide for Peaceful Living, September 1993.
