I presume that when this is printed we will all still be in isolation, trying to pray in our usual or unusual ways. If you are like me, I have always found myself too tired, distracted, caught up in daily tasks, pressured by work, short on time, lacking the desire to pray, or more strongly drawn to something else.
But I do pray daily; despite the fact that I often don’t want to, and despite the fact that many times prayer can be boring and uninteresting. I pray daily because I’m committed to a number of rituals for prayer: the Divine Office of the Church, the Eucharist, and daily meditation. I pray before every meal and I pray the Angelus every day at noon. I do many of these things because they are rituals and they serve me well.
Ritual prayers hold me, keep me steady, and keep me praying regularly when, many times, I don’t feel like praying. That’s the power of ritual. If I only prayed when I felt like it, I wouldn’t pray very regularly.
If you notice in the Gospel today the familiar story of the Road to Emmaus, the Disciples were distracted by the events of Jesus' trial and death and resurrection stories. They were going to go back to a life that did not cause them any anxiety because it was comfortable for them. Notice how the ritual of the Eucharist, the breaking of the bread is what brought them back to the reality of the presence of Christ.
Ritual practice keeps us doing what we should be doing (praying, working, being at table with our families, being polite) even when our feelings aren’t always onside. WE need to do certain things not because we always feel like doing them, but because it’s right to do them.
Today, in too many areas of life, we no longer understand ritual. That leaves us trying to live our lives by our feelings; not that feelings are bad, but rather that they come upon us as wild, uninvited guests. Iris Murdoch asserts that our world can change in fifteen seconds because we can fall in love in fifteen seconds. But we can also fall out of love in fifteen seconds! Feelings work that way. And so we cannot sustain love, marriage, family, friendship, collegial relationships, and neighborliness by feelings. We need help.
With the church currently closed to the public, we have offered many ways, specifically with live-streaming options, for prayer at Prince of Peace, to offer some comfort and assistance to you who are in unfamiliar territory as you stay at home. But rest assured, these rituals can and should be done in your heart and minds and in your homes. Rituals can help sustain our relationship beyond feelings, so if you are feeling lost because some of the rituals that others have led you in are now absent, know that God’s ritual of reaching out to you is still present. Go to Him and recognize Him in one another and in the stillness of your heart. Go to Him and develop your own rituals in the home where He has always dwelled.